Freeze Frame
by gaben
Summary: A case that the NCIS team and Fornell's FBI are working on goes terribly wrong when a young girl gets caught in the middle of it all.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer - I do not own NCIS and its characters. CBS does and all these guys and "just as well."The concept and characters were initially introduced in a two-part episode of the CBS series _JAG_ (_JAG_ episodes 8.20 and 8.21). The show, a spin-off from _JAG_, premiered on September 23, 2003 on CBS and, to date, has aired seven full seasons and has gone into syndicated reruns on USA Network, Sleuth and Ion Television. Donald Bellisario, who created _JAG_ as well as the well-known series _Magnum, P.I._ and _Quantum Leap_, is co-creator and executive producer of _NCIS_

Summary : A case that the NCIS team and Fornell's FBI are working on goes terribly wrong when a young girl gets caught in the middle of it all. Rated M

Warning : Mild language and head slaps. There may be the spanking of minors in later chapters. Depends?

**Freeze Frame**

Chapter 1

_**FREEZE FRAME convert black and white – Denozzo's face with bilious expression- Fade In**_

This was much better that their usual stakeouts or surveillance jobs, no of tepid bad coffee combined with fatty foods…..instead

"**Shoot" **

"**Karaha**" Tony and Ziva upturned their shot glasses and then slammed them down on the bar. All the while they watched the target waiting for someone to make contact.

"**Karaha? **" Came again through their earpieces. What's that mean? Asked McGee, watching the surveillance screen from the van parked outside the nightclub.

"**Party**" Interjected Gibbs sitting next to him. Gibbs spoke into his mic "**Yeah well don't go parting too much you two, stay tight "**

"**It's all cool boss they're only "Cowboys"** answered Tony referring to the third shot glass that appeared in front of him. "**More Like Cowgirls actually "They're pretty but not much punch."**

With that Ziva lent over and slapped the side of his head.

"**Hey Only Gibbs has permission to do that! "**Scowled Tony

"**Gibb's slaps the back of your head, that was the side of your head, performed to wipe the smurf of your face! "**

"**It's SMIRK "**

"**DENOZZO! "**Snapped Gibbs nearly bursting Tony's eardrum

"**Right Boss ." **Turning to Ziva he whispered "**Stay focused! "**

They both lifted their glasses ready to "shoot "their third cowboy when they heard a gunshot and screams coming from the night clubs parking lot.

**_Cut Away to parking lot- A woman stands besides the open door of a car. A marine lies in front of her bleeding from a stomach wound. A young girl of about 12- 14 is trying to help him. _**

Marley quickly grabbed the Marine's shirt that lay on the backseat of the car and jammed it into the gaping wound in the man's stomach.

"**Hold on , hold on , shit, shit , sorry mister ,..Mister?"**

She could feel the blood pulsating through the wad of white material. With each pump of the man's heart came a rich red hue splotch. Behind her Rose screamed. shaking, holding a gun and screaming!

"**Shut up mom, shut up , he's dying , help me stop the bleeding ! Mister Please mister, I'm sorry** "she pleaded as she pressed harder on the wound.

His eyes stared at her and his mouth twitched, trying to move, trying to say words. He tried to lift his face to hers but only made it half way before closing his eyes in pain. Determined the young marine tried his arms this time and managed to make contact with Marley's hand dropping a xd memory card onto her hands as she held tight to the material soaking up this blood.

"**My contact"** he rasped.

"**Lie down Mister. Please Keep Still**. "Marley insisted as the man tried to pull himself up further.

What seemed like an eternity was in reality only nano seconds .The parking lot was becoming noisier and the night sky above her reflected flashing lights. Marley was barely aware of the activity enfolding around her. Sirens could be heard in the distance.

"**DROP THE GUN . DROP YOUR WEAPON . MAM LAY DOWN YOUR WEAPON !"**

Marley twisted her head and torso and looked to Rose. Her mother's eyes were so wide and her hands shook as she held a gun in her left hand and pointed to the young marine and Marley.

"**Mom do as they sa…..."**

**SSSHT TTT WHUMP! **Blood splattered all over Marley's chest and the man in her hands finally slumped back to the ground.

**WHUMP WHUMP **another two bullets whizzed past her .

She turned almost following their sound stream and watched Rose drop her gun and start to fall to the ground. A small trickle of blood ran down her forehead and her eyes closed in slow motion as her knees buckled. Rose's upper body then suddenly slammed backwards onto the concrete.

Marley ran to her mother's body and threw herself on top of her.

Tony had heard that first shot, so had Ziva. They both fired their weapon at the female aiming a gun at a young girl on the ground in front of her. Ziva moved forward eyes fixed on the child, now sobbing and hovering over the females body. Not taking any chances she spoke clearly and slowly.

"**Put Your Hands in The Air !" **

Ziva had spotted the fallen gun to the left side of the girls foot and inched her way forward to kick it out of reach. Her instincts told her that the young girl would not go for it. But she knew Gibbs would slap her head silly if she took any risks. She repeated her instructions slowly, articulating clearly to overcompensate for her slight accent.

"**Just stand up slowly and keep your hands where I can see them."**

"**NCIS " **claimed Tony as Ziva kicked the gun out of the way.

Ziva noticed the color draining from the girls face . Marley's ears buzzed and whistled. Her stomach wretched when the little food she had consumed over the day started to rise and within seconds projected itself right into the chest of the man now walking towards her trying to holster his gun. Exhausted Marley dropped to the ground and blacked out.

_**FREEZE FRAME convert black and white – Denozzo's face with bilious expression – go green filter then CUT**_

**TBC - CHAPTER 2 **

**A.N -Sorry about the gun shots – how do you spell their sounds ?, bang bang didn't cut it for me, my sons says they should read Pichku Pichku ? Any other suggestions would be greatly appreciated. **


	2. Denial

FREEZE FRAME chapter 2

Summary : A case that the NCIS team and Fornell's FBI are working on goes terribly wrong when a young girl gets caught in the middle of it all.

Disclaimer : I do not own NCIS nor did I create it, Donald Bellisaio and Don Mc Gill did, and a damn fine job they did too.

Marley Rose is not real . I made her up . She's little 4'10 maybe , petite build, pre- pubescent . She has an olive complexion , short cropped hair ( pixie ) and big brown eyes.

CHAPTER TWO DENIAL

**FREEZE FRAME – Close up of Marley holding a xd memory card covered in blood. Frame big brown eyes- centre and xd card the same size as her eye - right corner. CONVERT to BLACK AND WHITE. **

Gibbs, Fornell and McGee were watching from the Audio Visual van. All the commotion could be heard from the speakers of the claustrophobic space. The FBI agents went running everywhere with Fornell barking instructions. **"Sacks!.. Don't lose Roche! ... What the fff.. "**

Fornell didn't get to finish his sentence. Without a word Gibbs and Mc Gee slammed down their ear pieces and pushing passed Thomas, ran to the parking lot.

Fornell was really "pissed." ! For two months now his team had worked with the best of NCIS to catch a cell selling the plans of prototype surveillance systems and plans. They had received intelligence reports that the Koreans were somehow involved. Their investigations had found a suspect. They were sure some sort of contact and exchange was going to be made tonight. It was believed that Naval personnel were involved, thus the inclusion of **NCIS**. Whoever they were they were not very clever and their operation not very sophisticated. However that didn't make it any easier to catch them ALL and get this case finally wrapped up. That was not to be TONIGHT!

**Cut away Parking lot later. Lights, ambulances, police and NCIS have roped off the scene. The team are Tagging and Bagging – except for Tony. **

"**Bag and tag everything here ... Where's DiNozzo? "**

"**Here boss "**Tony arrived with his brand new cashmere pullover and other clothes bagged and tagged. He was now wearing a pair of Orange Coveralls. Not his favourite colour, but hey it was better than smelling like "spew".

Gibbs turned to Tony**. "Bag and tag your clothes and get them to Abby"**

Tony held them up to Gibb's face** "Already done boss" **

"**Get them out of my face, give them to McGee, he's heading back as soon as Ducky's done." **

Mc Gee walked over to the group.

"**Here Mc Chuck – take these to Abby. And make sure she doesn't cut them up like she did your leather jacket. " **Tony shoved the bag into McGee face , knowing the smell, while completely masked by the thick plastic evidence bag, would still ignite a reaction to Timmy boy's weak stomach.

McGee took it and at arm's length then dropped in the evidence box with the other bags. **"Think your funny "NOT !**

""**What are you 12? "**Tony said but then kind of wished he hadn't as looked over to the ambulance where the young girl, who had just witnessed the death of her mother and another man, sat in the back of the Ambulance.

Gibbs noticed; he knew Tony and what he was probably thinking, pretty well sure of it actually, so he **slapped** him up the back of the head?

"**What?"**

"**You Know "... "McGee get these back to Abby and get to work getting the backgrounds on all these people, including the girl,. While you're at it better contact children's services and Next of Kin, we'll need to interview her later and she'll need someone there... Ziva, Tony you're with me "**

Tony Gibbs and Ziva walked towards the ambulance. The medic was talking to the girl. He secured the thermal blanket around her small frame and handed her a cup with a small amount of liquid electrolyte in it.

"**We would like to ask a few questions** 'Gibbs asked the medic

"**Sure "**the medic nodded ... " **But not many ... we'd like to get Marley to the hospital. She's suffering from shock and dehydration. "**

"**Marley?"**

Marley looked up from the lip of her cup to the piercing blue eyes of a grey haired man.

"**My names Special Agent Gibbs and I'm with NCIS. "**

Marley looked a little confused. Gibbs smiled and nodded towards her cup.** " Better finish that drink, I think. Do you feel a little better?"**

Marley wasn't quite sure what or how she felt so she just simply took another drink of the sweet liquid from the plastic cup that the medic had handed her. Then she looked back to the blue eyes of the agent.

**" I know what NCIS means. My brother is in the navy and my grandad was a marine. **

" **Really , My kind of people then."**

"**Rose wasn't"**

"**Rose wasn't what?" **

"**In the navy." My mom, Rose. Rose Louise Hanson and I'm Marley Rose Hanson. Is my Mom? … **She choked; tears welling and tittering from the corners of her eyes threatening to spill due to their slight vibrations**. "Are they taking Rose to the hospital too? "**

"**We are going to take your mom back with us. Dr Mallard is going to look after her. He is going to take real good care with her."**

" **Rose. Rose, she's my mom. She's forty one years old. She's bipolar and….**

Just then Ducky arrived at the van and came up to Gibbs

Gibbs made eye contact with him and directed a nod of his head towards the young girl sitting on the gurney**. " Ducky. I was just telling Marley here that you were going to take real good care with her mom. He turned back to Marley . " You better have finished that drink before the medic comes back and thumps me. **She sipped again Gibbs faced Ducky**. " Rose . Bipolar?"**

" …**..A chemical imbalance – Characterized by shifts between episodes of mania and depression. Having almost two different natures and unconventional ways of responding to certain social situations or threats or even perceiving certain normal situations as threats and threatening situations like a walk in the park on a sunny day. Medication can help and in most cases does, but they are can have episodic reversions. When this happens they often just can't tell what is real. You know many famous people have the illness. Actually Art historians believe that Vincent Van Gogh was probably suffering From it. Then there was King…**

"**Got it Duck" we can get back to that later. "**

" **Doctor? " **Marley inquired.

'**Yes dear" **

"**Can I go with you , can I go with Rose. She's bipolar and she's allergic to penicillin and she has muscle spasms if you give her codeine , so don't give her codeine cause she'll just start shaking like crazy." **

Tony and Ziva stole a quick glance at each other. It was the shaking hand of the woman with a gun in her hand aimed at Marley ; a gun that they had presumed went off ; that predominately initiated their reflex response and had them firing their weapons.

Ducky carefully answered the Girl, who was obviously still in shock and displaying signs of the first stage of grief ; denial** " No my dear , you need to go to the Hospital and get checked out. The hospital will send over your mom's file, so I promise I will be very careful and take really good care with her."**

"**With her?" **Marley's stomach leaped and a panicked look could be seen in her eyes** " I WANT TO GO WITH HER! SHE NEEDS ME ! YOU WON'T KNOW WHAT TO DO , SHE'ILL BE SCARED, SHE DOESN'T EVEN FRIGGIN KNOW YOU!**

Geez the kid was gonna have an absolute freak out thought Tony.

Gibbs looked at the red angry face of Marley** " HEY" he said firmly but didn't yell. "You know what NCIS is. Right ! We always look after our own. We've got your six. You know what that means; Right.**

"**Yeah " **she replied now calmer** . " I'm sorry " **

"**Don't apologise"**

Marley liked this man. She trusted him, she didn't know why; He was a bit scary but he was the boss and he looked straight at her when he talked to her. He was firm but true.

She spoke very softly and calmly "**Ok I'm not sorry. I'm just worried. Rose didn't mean it. She was scared. She didn't mean to shoot him. I tried to help. But I didn't ."**

Ducky, Tony and Ziva all looked at Gibbs as this piece of information threw a little light on the incident. Gibbs expression didn't change but he paused before he asked.

" **How old are you Marley ?**

"**twe…. Fourteen" **

" **I want you to go to the hospital with Tony and Ziva here. They will look after you. After the doctor says your Ok ,they will bring you back to us; Me and Ducky ; Back to NCIS headquarters.**

" **Will I be able to see my Rose then? **

"**Nope', not then, maybe later though.**

**The Medic returned. "Ok we're ready to go" **

Gibbs held up his hand **"Just a minute . She's not going alone I want my people with her.**

Gibbs moved towards Ziva and Tony , while Ducky took the opportunity to quietly talk to the medics.** "Don't give her any more electrolytes, what flavour was it anyway? **

"**Cherry " **

"**Yes well, she's got enough adrenaline happening to run an electric golf buggy, so no more of that, just water or a saline drip if she let you put a line in.**

"**And you are?" **

"**Doctor Mallard. How do you do" **and he walked off towards his coroners van.

Tony and Ziva stood watching the girl as Gibbs turned to them.** "Tony , Ziva , go with Marley to the hospital . Stay with her. McGee's already organised her mothers medical files to be sent to Ducky , but you better get Marley's D-mailed too. **

"**It's E- mailed Boss"**

"**Yeah well just make sure they convert them to PDF's and zipped I don't want them taking all day to get there! "**

Tony was Speechless. McGeek must have been rubbing off on him. He thought.

Gibbs looked at his dumbfounded face.** "Abby, actually. She's a good teacher. Bag Marley's clothes as soon as you get there and send them over. I send a driver , give them to him, TAGGED and SEALED.**

**He'll come back for you when they give Marley the all clear. Bring her back to headquarters. Oh and you both better get a blood test while you're there. These shootings may end up leading to an internal investigation, we'll head that off at the pass with a thorough report to Vance, which will include independent blood alcohol results." **

"**It shouldn't be too much of a problem Ziva and I only had two drinks, plus I don't think either of our shots 'was' the kill shot ; well not mine anyway I was aiming for the woman's gun hand.**

"**So was I at f…" **

Before Ziva could finish her sentence Gibbs slapped them both up the back of the head.

"**WHAT?" they yelled in unison.**

Gibbs in his typical quite and menacing tone said** "You mean to tell me , you risked the life of that young girl ,the marine and EACH OTHERS! Thinking you could shoot a shaking gun out of a hand before she could get a shot off. What are you COWBOYS! **Gibbs knew they probably could shoot a smoking gun out of a shaking hand; both Tony and Ziva were excellent marksmen. It didn't surprise him that Tony's gut feeling would probably override his good sense but not his training. Though that gut feeling hadn't been wrong yet , Well except for rule no 10, or maybe not. Ziva on the other hand would go into the zone if any risk was there. He couldn't believe that she would have been distracted in any way.

"**But boss….. '**

Gibbs interrupted and barked "**YOU DON'T TAKE UNNECESSARY RISKS ****"  
**

**Ziva waited a moment before she spoke " Wait Gibbs…. I was going to say …." **then hesitated ; just slightly.**  
**

**"Spit it out David "  
**

"**I was going to say that I too was aiming at her gun hand at first but as soon as I heard a shot I changed aim and shot. I probably made the kill shot. "**

Ziva looked all business but she was feeling a little exposed emotionally. Typically she stared at Tony and then slid her hands in her pockets. While Tony was a little relieved that he had probably not killed a twelve year old's mother in front of her , his straight lips and blank eyes said he was still feeling guilty and when Ziva looked at him he felt even worse. He wouldn't want to be her, with the feelings that she would be trying to suppress. He suspected Rule number 10 was going to be difficult for all of them.

Gibbs didn't miss their silent conversation and he was pretty sure he knew what these two were thinking.

" **You saved the life of a young girl tonight. A gun was pointing at her head , a marine lay bleeding to death on the ground in front of her…. So get rid of whatever self doubt is spinning around in your heads …. or guts."**He said to both of them.

Tony was again slightly relieved. He wasn't worried about what the FBI , internal affairs, or maybe even Gibbs thought but there was a little girl over there in an ambulance, who has just lost her mother , who might just blame them and he wasn't sure how he or Ziva might handle that.

'**Ok get to the hospital , we'll start trying to piece all this stuff together back home. "**

"**Ok I'll ride up front, Ziva you ride in the back"**

"**Yes Phew, that would be most considerate of you Tony" **she said as she waved her hand in front of her face.

"**Hey I don't smell any more . I made sure… I used cologne … I made sure just in case I started a complete " barffarrama " with everybody upchucking at the smell. "**

Ziva looked puzzled.

" **Stand By Me " best spew scene you've ever seen. **

Marley wished they could just get going as she watched the special agents standing a short distance away. She was starting to cook under this thermal blanket. _I don't know why they call it a blanket_ she thought, its alfoil, _I feel like a baked turkey dinner_. She pushed the thermal away from her chest and down past her waist, trying to cool off. It was then she noticed a little plastic card stuck to the material of her pants, stuck there by congealed blood. She peeled the object off and looked at it.

**FREEZE FRAME – Close up of Marley holding a xd memory card covered in blood. Frame big brown eyes- centre and xd card the same size as her eye - right corner. CONVERT BLACK AND WHITE. **

**TBC Chapter 3 FEAR**

**A.N Thanks for the reviews so far. Sorry if the capter is too long or too short ( I can't really tell?) , but I needed to set a few things up. Please don't bag me about Bipolar – I'm no expert .I just have two really good friends and a young family member who are. They all present differently during episodes , but that's what one of them told me what it can feel like for them. They are all very special to me and are very intelligent and loving friends.**


	3. Fear

FREEZE FRAME – Chapter 3

Summary: A case that the NCIS team and Fornell's FBI are working on goes terribly wrong when a young girl gets caught in the middle of it all.

Disclaimer: I do not own NCIS nor did I create it Donald Bellisaio and Don Mc Gill did, and a damn fine job they do too.

Marley Rose is not real. I made her up . She's little 4'10 maybe , petite build, pre- pubescent . She has an olive complexion, short cropped hair ( pixie cut ) and big brown eyes.

**Chapter 3- FEAR **

**FREEZE FRAME : Close –up on Ziva gun poised convert black and white. CUT**

**Cut In A Hospital ward: Ziva waits in the ward while Marley showers. The doctors have assessed her and have signed her discharge papers. Once everything is order, all three will return to NCIS headquarters. **

Marley stripped off and dropped her soiled jeans and hoddie into the large plastic bag that the woman called Ziva had handed her. She put on a gown and bought them out and handed them to the special agent.

''Here are my clothes''

Tony walked into the room with a bundle of clean clothes.''Here the hospital has sent these down, they're nothing fancy, a clean t-shirt and windbreaker and a pair of track pants, but they're clean and warm.''

Ziva swapped them for the evidence bag. ''Better get these to Abby straight away. Marley needs to shower and then we should be excellent to go.''

''Yeah ok, GOOD to go , Mark's in the waiting room, he'll courier them in. Gibbs had a car dropped off for us; it's out the back next to the ambulance bays, so nobody's waiting on us. You help Marley. I've got get all the results sent to McGee. They want Marley's medical history too. Children Services are sending someone over to NCIS at around 4 o'clock. Marley's already in the system , Duel care situation. They're sending over her case worker so we'll interview her then''

''Any update on the case?''

''A little!'' Tony looked to Marley before he was to continue.

Marley took the cue –'' I'll go take that shower.''

''I will help'' offered Ziva

''No thanks – I can manage… ( both agents looked concerned ) ..Honest I'm ok, I won't faint or anything ''and then to lighten the mood a little, she added ''or Projectile vomit in your face."

''Good ''said Tony ''then off you go BARF GIRL ''

Marley gave a little smile and headed back to the shower.

''Well?' asked Ziva

''Well what?''

''The case…. any news?''

''Not much but Ducky has done a preliminary. Two bullets in our dead marine, one probably from the gun found at the scene , the others probably a long range sniper. Abby will confirm what Type. Rose had three bullets extracted. One from her hand... looks like one of ours''

''Yours probably''

''Yeah probably''

''The other two ? ''

''Both extracted from her head. One's ours and the other looks the same as the long range that took out the marine.''

''So mine was the kill shot"

"Hey Ducky's not sure which came first.''

''It doesn't matter Tony. I'm ok with this. It's my job, I'm trained for situations like this. If it wasn't the kill shot then I'm off my play. I know it's a sad thing but we didn't have a choice.''

Ziva's (comes with the job) demeanour didn't fool him. It was also one of those times where correcting her 'Foe Par' would be out of line. ''You're right… I'll get these to Mark and go organise the files. Give me about 15 minutes.'' As he went to leave Ziva stopped him.

''Wait! Tony do you suspect that Marley and these shootings have something to do with Fornell's case?''

Tony noticed that Ziva had used Marley's name and not her usual unconnected immunised title of, the girl or the witness, or the victim. Rule number 10 was definitely being poked at.

"My gut says NO but co-incidence is a strange thing''

''Rule number 39''

''Yeah ''

''But my GUTS saying more like '' in the wrong place at the wrong Time.''

''Gibbs rules don't have BUTS Tony"

''I'm not saying they're not connected, but too what degree? … you know the old saying that everything is connected in some way or another. You know 7 degrees of separation"

''No I don't know that!''

''Everything is connected somehow even it's a fine thread that connecting them. The 7 degrees is pretty small but still an uncanny connection or co-incidence. Sort of like a terrorist in Somalia torturing his prisoner's while drinking Caf Pow tracked from D.C.''

''I'm confused Tony. So are you saying they are connected? ''

''Who knows? But right now Marley's the only one that may give us some insight. Fornell's Feds lost Roche not to long after all the commotion started at the Bar. Evidently Fornell was really "pissed about it. The Pow Wow in the Elevator with Gibbs went for over half an hour. ''

Tony could hear Running water coming from the shower.

''Hey I better get these to Mark I'll be right back.''

**CA Bathroom. Marley is in the shower just letting the water pour over her.**

Marley stood under the shower and watched the base fill with a pink fluid before it swirled and headed down the drain. She slid to the floor as the water became clear and started to cry, never taking her eyes of the drain and the disappearing water mixed with her tears. It reminded her of that old freaky Movie 'Psycho', where the blood and the water twirled and twirled around the drain , shadowed by the sinister looking shower head, then the eyes of Janet Leigh , dead eyes, and a tear running down her cheek to blend with the water pooling on the floor. Was it a tear or was it a drop of water from the shower that continued to pour, then circle the drain and pan to her eye , circle, drain eye, circle ,drain eye, EYE! Dead Eyes, just like Rose.

Marley new Rose was dead as soon as she saw those eyes. She only hoped she wasn't, but she knew. She had always known Roses' eyes. They told her things that Rose couldn't, they told her when she was here in the real. They told her when she was playing or joking or being cheeky and every now and again but not often, they told her when she was confused or scared . They told her when she absolutely petrified .Just like last night. Now she had another read: Rose wasn't here anymore. For just a while she didn't want that. She wanted to believe, or hope that it wasn't that bad. But the Doctor and Gibbs kept saying that they would take good care WITH her. Marley was good. She could 'read' words too, their inferences' and their analogous connections. She had lived with her Mother's Bipolar all her life. There was lots of help like Grandad until he died, Uncle Nic, Gillian and Alistair and the other Kids at the home. But most of the time it was just Marley and Rose.

Marley calmed as she let the warm water pour over her head. It felt good, prickling her skin and poking her gently back to the reality of the situation. Ok, Ok, relax, relax, you can do this, she told herself. It might look and read like one of Rose's bad screen plays, where all the pieces were fragmented and distorted. The pieces would come together. They always did when they worked them out together. She wasn't going to be any good to any one if she didn't stay focused, if she let her fear and emotions run away with her.

Ziva knocked on the door. "Marley are you ok in there?''

Marley did not answer.

''Marley I will need to come in if you do not answer me!''

"I'm fine" and she was, physically, but she just wanted to sit there a little while longer.

Ziva didn't want to rush her but they needed to get back to headquarters.

''Marley I can still hear the water running. You need to get dressed. We really need to go.''

Ziva was relieved when she heard the water stop abruptly.

Marley dried herself off and put on the fresh clothes. While bending down she noticed the glint of an object lying on the floor just underneath the chair. She picked it up. She remembered, it was the xd card the marine had given her. She'd been confused by it, in the beginning, it was totally out of context at the time and not very important to her considering the drama that was unfolding. She put it into her pocket intending to give it to the agents as soon as possible. It was probably important, well obviously it was, as the guy dying in her hands had given it to her. She doubted they were happy holiday snaps ready to be uploaded to his 'facebook'. God this really was a bad screen play!

Marley came out towel drying her hair.

''Are you Ok ''asked Ziva for the third time

''Yeah fine, just a little wobbly still ''said Marley as she sat on the hospital bed. Why do I need to be interviewed?''she asked Ziva

''We need to ask you a few questions. The man … (She hesitated a little before she continued) … you were trying to help was a marine. We are investigating his murd…. Death. NCIS investigates most crimes that involve defence personnel.''

''But I tried to save him, I didn't kill him . Rose didn't know what she was doing. She probably thought he was trying to hurt her , he might have, I don't know, I don't know really, I just was trying to stop the bleeding…'' (Calm down, calm down, she told herself, stop blabbering, you could be making this worse). But she couldn't help it she trusted these people, she had to trust someone, she remembered the card and went to pull it out of her pocket when Ziva gently took her hand.

''We know that. We know a lot already, but there are a lot of missing pieces and you may be able to help. If it gets too difficult just let us now, but I think it would be better for you to be at NCIS . It will be safe there. Your case worker will meet us back at NCIS.''

Marley started to panic. She wanted to see Rose, she wanted to figure this out, she wanted to trust someone, she wasn't sure what happened, she didn't want to speak to anyone, she just wanted to figure out what to do. Rose had shot the man, she had got herself shot, she had got herself in a really bad situation, and Marley was in a tight spot. She needed to clear her head. Rose was a killer, her uncle wasn't around, Gillian was coming, she trusted her but … but the duel care thing was probably not going to continue, she wouldn't be able to say in the program, they'd find out she was really only 12 and two young to stay in the program she was probably an orphan now, which would mean permanent care in the foster system, WHATEVER! Panic completely took over, she needed to get out , she needed to get home. Calm down, calm down!

Ziva noticed Marley go pale and before she could ask for a fourth time if the girl was alright Marley spoke.

''Um….. Ziva, could you get me a cup of water from the bathroom please. I feel a little sick.''

''Oh should I call a nurse?''

''No ,no, I just need a cool drink or maybe a wet face flannel''

Ziva went to the bathroom. Marley took the opportunity and bolted.

Ziva's highly tuned sense picked up the panicked atmosphere of the room and within seconds was hot on Marley's heals. She called to Tony who was at the nurses' station organising files to be sent to NCIS. Marley spotted him and changed direction quickly, heading towards the double doors of the Ambulance bay. Ziva and Tony paired up as they followed her out. Marley ran past the two parked ambulances and nearly made it to the public car park before Tony grabbed her.

Ziva relaxed and watched ,with a smirk , the struggle " Tony the brave but not fit " was having with the small girl.

''Let go , let go , please just let me go!'' she yelled all the time kicking and punching .

Tony struggled to hold her wriggling and twisting form. He grabbed her around the waist with one arm and tried to grab both her slapping hands with his spare. Marley grabbed his hold and pulled Tony's hands towards her face.

''OWEEE she bit me!''

Marley was hoping that the agent would drop her out of pain and give her enough of a break. However this guy was tough, he yelled but his hold only got stronger as he tried to lift her off the ground. So Marley bit down even harder again. This time Tony did let go , but turned instantly and threw her over his shoulder trapping her kicking legs under the knees. Without really thinking about it he landed a quick sharp swat to her backside.

"ENOUGH!"

Marley immediately stopped struggling. She was just too exhausted.

"Listen , we're here to help , you're not in trouble ,we are not going to hurt, you settle down, no more punching and biting ok?"

Ziva found the whole thing pretty amusing. The girl had had no hope of getting very far, both her and Tony were too fast for her.. "Yes Marley no biting Tony , you never know where he's been. Come on the cars over here stop slacking around. I will drive"

''We're not MUCKING around. And you're not driving. No way!''

''Yes I am . You are injured Tony!'' Pointing to the very red bite mark on his hand.

''Oh…, very funny!''He opened the back door to the SUV , stood Marley back on her feet and went to guide her onto the back seat.

''No I am driving! You can sit in the back with PIRANHA GIRL.''

Before the argument could escalate a shot rang out from the car park smashing the vans taillight. Both agents dropped to the ground, behind the open door, taking Marley with them and drew their weapons.

**FREEZE FRAME : Close –up on Ziva gun poised convert black and white. CUT**

TBC – Please review, just a word, if you are reading this at least, bad or good.

A.N. Sorry if this chapter's a bit patchy. I'm trying to establish some background on the characters and snippets of the investigation. More will be revealed.

Chapter 4 – ANGER - The Bull Pen.


	4. Guilt

FREEZE FRAME

Chapter 4

Summary: A case that the NCIS team and Fornell's FBI are working on goes terribly wrong when a young girl gets caught in the middle of it all.

Disclaimer: I do not own NCIS nor did I create it Donald Bellisaio and Don Mc Gill did, and a damn fine job they do too.

Marley Rose is not real. I made her up. She's little 4'10 maybe, petite build, pre- pubescent. She has an olive complexion, short cropped hair (pixie cut) and big brown eyes.

A.N- This chapter was supposed to be called Anger but I changed my mind- Marley is going through the stages of grief not necessarily in their conventional order. But Hey – it needs to go this way, hopefully you'll see why. Another two scenes/ chapters to go, at least, before she gets to acceptance. Again it's a long chapter and probably a bit boring in parts but I think you'll like the end FREEZE FRAME

**Chapter 4 –**

**FREEZE FRAME - Mid Long Shot Abby with motor bike helmet on. Solid stance with arm extended with CAF POW offered forward. Convert black and white CUT**

**Cut away- Gibbs entering Morgue. Ducky has just finished his autopsy on Rose.**

"Now my dear, all done. Abby will be here soon and get you ready for Marley. I can't promise if she will come, it really may not be in her best interest. But if it is, I will bring her. Don't worry our Abby will do a good job, well if I can talk her out of black eye shadow and a henna tattoo."

''Hey Ducky. What we got?''

''A very sad state of affairs Jethro!'' Ducky paused and looked at rose before turning to the body of the dead marine.

''Well our marine here, 'Petty Officer Christopher Williams, has two bullet wounds both extracted from his mid section. Abby has the bullets and is running them as we speak. One was definitely from the 38 found at the crime scene. The other looks long range, pretty powerful, if it wasn't for the angle of entry young Marley could have been hit too. ''Ducky moves and points to areas on the body.

''The first bullet was fired at close range penetrating the stomach and upper bowel. The other entered from the back under the right scapula and through his lung. The angle suggests he was shot from above. The loss of blood from the first wound was enormous and frankly I'm surprised that he lasted as long as he did. Marley only delayed the inevitable. The second shot succeeded in putting him out of any further pain instantly. There is evidence of a struggle. He had scratches to his torso and bruises to his face. Skin samples taken from his fingernails belong to Rose. It appears these two struggled before he was shot. Similar defensive wounds and samples were found on Rose, the skin sample belonging to Officer Williams here. " He turns now to Rose.

''Rose had powder burns on her fingers with match the 38. Her finger prints were also found on the gun along with the marine. Yes quite a struggle I'd say before she shot him.''

''Self Defence? Was she raped Duck?''

''No, but there were signs of sexual activity, though no evidence that it was brutal. It appears what may have started out as consensual ,quickly turned into something else. Most of the defensive wounds are on Williams. Whatever the reality was it, wasn't Rose's reality .Her attack appears frenzied and panicked. ''

''She thought she was being raped!''

''Most likely! Going through her medical history, her bipolar episodes tended to be ones of paranoia and she was at times delusional. If she thought she was being raped then her response, in her mind, was one of self defence. If the gun should belong to Petty officer Williams, then more than likely that was exactly the case. Unfortunately for Christopher, there was not much he could have done to convince her otherwise.''

''How often did she have these episodes?''

''Her file records her first breakdown nearly 14 year ago. At first she appeared unstable and with several different doctors, therapists and treatment she seemed to stabilise. Over the last 8 years she has had fewer reversions, about one a year. Her Psycho analyst, a doctor Alistair Kean suggests that they are triggered by stress overwork, or the introduction of new medication. Her allergies wouldn't have helped either. ''

''Did the hospital send over Marley's records? ''

''Yes but I haven't had a chance to really look at them yet. I've only just finished with Rose Louise, though I did find one little anomaly.''

''Marley's age Right?''

''Your Gut Jethro?''

''My eyes Ducky!''

''Yes. The physical doesn't quite match up. Firstly Marley appears quite undeveloped for 14. Secondly my examination of rose found two lots of implantation scaring , one probably just over 10 years old. Which, but its size points to a full term pregnancy . Her Cesarean scar supports that theory. The other scar is smaller and more recent, indicating either a miscarriage or termination. ''

''Could you be wrong about the age of the scar?''

''Well let's see.'' Ducky pulled up Marley's records and split the screen and bought it up next to Roses'. ''Here is Marley's birth certificate it puts her age at 14 and 3 months, now the one from children services, 14 and 3 months. Hmm ….covering her tracks. What about immunisation records. ''Ducky slides to another page on the screen…" Look at the dates …..Ahhh. She would have been 24 months at the time of her first shots. A little late or a little negligent!''

''If Rose's bipolar presented at the same time, maybe they were delayed.''

''Yes. A possibility? But there's no mention of a child when she first presented 14 years ago and look…. Here is Rose's medical history. The C-section is dated 1998. Post operative notes also record her first allergic reaction to penicillin and codeine. 1998. Marley Rose Hanson is only 12. ''

''Why would she hide her real age?''

''I don't know. But I can't believe no one else has queried it. Though she is home schooled and has a relatively high IQ. In any case you'll find out when you ask her. ''

''There are quite a few pieces to this puzzle that may get cleared up when she's finally interviewed. For one I'd like to know why she was there in the first place. What sort of parent takes their 12 or 14 year old to a night club in the first place?''

''Ahhhh….. You're presuming that Rose knew that Marley was there and that Rose was actually in her right mind at the time. That's the point Jethro; Rose Louise was most likely not experiencing the reality.''

''Actually I was going to get Ziva to interview her, but now…''

''No I don't think that's a good idea Jethro. ''

''Yep! My gut tells me that Ziva's shot was the kill shot''.

''Well, your guts never been wrong before. Both bullets were actually found caught in the back of Rose's hair. The force of the second bullet pushed Ziva's out. If it had been the other way round the long range would have exited and left Ziva's still in its track.''

''And that means someone else wanted both our marine and Rose dead, and maybe even Marley. I don't think she is safe. I will feel a lot better when the three of them get back here.''

''Jethro Marley's circumstances are very unusual. It would not be wise for Ziva to do the interview for either Marley or Ziva. She is still grieving and had been through quite a traumatic experience. We've already seen denial; don't be surprised if we see anger or guilt or both long before we see despair then acceptance.''

''Ok Duck, I will take you lead on this. ''

''Jethro, that's not the main reason you should be doing this interview. Like I said Marley's circumstances are unusual. She has played a very different role than most children her age. Jethro Marley has not lost a parent. To Marley…. Marley, Jethro was the parent. Marley has lost a child. Someone that needed her; someone that she unconditionally loved and protected; and would do so with her life.''

Ducky didn't have to say anymore. Gibbs knew he had to interview Marley. As soon as Tony and Ziva returned with the girl, he would.''

**CA CAR . Ziva is driving. Tony sits in the back with Marley. They are on their way to NCIS.**

All three sat in the car in relative silence for some time. Tony was the first to speak.

''You Ok'' he said to Marley.

''Ok but not great.''

''Well, we need to get back to headquarters. Nobody will shoot at us there!''

"Sorry…. This is probably my fault. I didn't mean to cause this much trouble.''

''Never apologise, it's a sign of weakness! ''

''Nice… Yours?''

''No.. my boss'''

''The grey haired guy? The one that slapped you up the back of the Head in the car park last night? I heard what he said you know …. About you guys not taking risks. Gibbs right?''

''Yeah Gibbs.''

''Ok then I'm not sorry….''

''Really!''

''Yeah …I'm not sorry I bit you!'' She replied with a smirk.

''Yeah well I'm not sorry I smacked you.''

''Shit I am!''

They both chuckled. This kids not only tough, thought Tony, she has a healthy sense of humour.

Marley was starting to feel a little more relaxed. She felt safe with these officers and was quite relieved, now , to be going back to NCIS. She needed to find out why everything had happened. While she had a pretty good idea how Rose and she had got themselves into this mess .She couldn't figure out why someone was shooting at them. Maybe it had nothing to do with her; I mean these guys probably get shot at all the time. Maybe it was something else going down that was totally unrelated. However her gut or maybe it was her fear kept niggling that it just might not be. Marley had presumed the agents or the police had shot Rose, Rose had shot the marine. Both ways it had been Rose's fault that they had been there and it was her fault that Rose had been there.

''I kept saying sorry to that man over and over again. I don't think it was a sign of weakness.''

''No ''interrupted Ziva ''Being scared is not a sign of weakness!''

''I wasn't as scared as Rose. I was just wishing that guy wasn't going to die, that he would stop looking at me.''

Ziva was surprised at the girls' maturity. ''You are only 14 years old . There are not many adults that would have as calm as you.''

''I wasn't calm, just calmer than Rose. I should have calmed her down. I should have got there earlier. I could have stopped all of this. If she hadn't had the gun in her hand , she would not have got shot. You would not have had to shoot her. ''

''Your life was in danger, I do not think you would have been able to stop her, not once she had shot the marine.''

Marley started to get a little agitated. ''YOU don't know THAT. I could have stopped her. I should have checked on her , she wanted to go out after dinner , I asked her not too. I should have made her stay. SHE… She is so damn stubborn, she doesn't think I know what's best for HER. SHE JUST MAKES ME SO ANGRY! This is her fault. IF SHE HAD JUST STAYED HOME SHE WOULDN'T BE DEAD!''

Ziva made eye contact with Tony via the rear view.

Marley felt a little guilty freaking out like that. " You know that Gibbs Guy is right, I'm sor… It's not your fault. You were just doing your Job. You couldn't have known that Rose was just having a freak out. ….. And she could have hurt me… she sometimes doesn't know who I am. Sometimes she thinks I'm her mum or some kid from across the road. One time she thought I was a friend from her childhood. It really freaked her out cause the girl had died when she was young and she thought I was a ghost. I couldn't go near her for hours. I'm sorry.''

Tony thought he'd break the tension "Hey … What did I' say about apologising! ''And he gave a slight tap to the back of Marley's head.

''Hey you shouldn't hit kids in the back of the head''

''You're not a kid.''

''Right and I'm not sorry I up chucked on you either! ''

They all laughed….. Then silence again.

''So what school to you go to?'' Asked Tony

''Well I don't really. I'm home schooled most of the time except when I stay at the respite house with the gang. Gillian takes me to school with her. She works at the international school on the base. She's the school counsellor. I do a couple of advanced units there, one in Art and one in Media. It's good. There real interesting. They're sort of foundation type units or courses to help you get into college later. When I'm at home with mum, she works on her writing. She writes screen plays, sort of , mainly for doco's. I help her and do all my other subjects by correspondence. They're pretty easy. I'm doing tenth grade stuff now. The rest of the time Rose and I watch old movies and stuff.''

''Yeah old Movies, hey? What's your favourite? ''

''Well I like lots of different genres really and I have a favourite in each. But I'm a mad sci fi fanatic and I love a good old western. All heroes are COWBOYS I guess! We're studying Film noir at the moment… you know double indemnity, Casablanca.. ''

''Leave her to heaven''

''Yeah – creepy girl.''

'' Femme Fatael!'' added Ziva

''Casablanca "Play it again Sam". quoted Tony with a pretty good Humphrey Bogart impersonation.

Marley laughed and added ''You know it's a running gag in some movies and TV shows to call the piano player or the barman Sam. In most of the well known TV westerns the barmen are all called Sam. They always get credited it with at the end then even if they don't have lines. Some of the Sam actors would play the same parts too, even if different shows. He never had a full name though except in Gunsmoke.

''Hey you know your stuff. But in Magnum the bar man was Rick.''

''No rick owned the bar or club, just like the guy in Casablanca. He might have had to work the bar but he wasn't the regular barman. I bet if you went back through a couple of episodes you'd find a scene where the barmen or the piano player is called Sam.''

''No way …. You do not know more about Magnum than me… ''

''Yeah well check it out. ''Marley didn't know if she was right or not. She was on a roll and enjoyed the comedy relief of "pulling Tony's chain".

**Fade in to Abby's lab**

**Abby sensed Gibbs enter the lab and quickly turned around to greet him.**

''Not fair Gibbs, I haven't finished yet. My babies are still working on the blood samples from Marley's clothes and one of the guns.''

She noticed he didn't have her usual reward of Caf POW in his hands.

''Oh so not fair … I've been going nonstop… and I'm empty… see ''She sucked up the air from her last Caf Pow and showed Gibbs.

''Yeah well we've all been a little busy Abbs. ''Anyway , you have something , right!"'

''Yes I have heaps Gibbs , but you probably already know all this , but to officially confirm everything . here we go. Five bullets from three different guns- one from the 38 found at the scene , registered to one Christopher Williams, said gun fired by Rose, powder taken from her hands matched Williams gun; one from Tony's gun: one from Ziva's gun: and the other two ,belong to the same gun, found in both our Victims is …..still an unknown sorry Gibbs. My babies haven't even told me what type of gun yet. The search on though . I fed everything into the computer and it's still processing.''

''Ping!''

''Oh, good babies … OK Relax Gibbs. It's the Blood results taken from Marley's clothes. Poor kid.. Imagine how bad that would have been to see that... I mean I know some kids are tough but that poor little kid… what does she look like Gibbs, Tim said she was really small, with short dark hair, which is really unusual for girls at the age, they like long hair, unless you were me, oh I like my hair long cause I do lots of things with it, but when I was her age I dyed my hair blue black and added a green strip down it. You gotta look after her Gibbs. And poor Tony and Ziva, I mean they probably feel pretty bad. They shouldn't feel bad Gibbs .It's not like they meant to kill her mum, but they probably feel really bad Gibbs. They were just doing their job. They could have been killed too you know. Gibbs you've got to stop them from putting themselves in danger Gibbs. This is just too stressful….''

''Abby . PDF it and zipp it!''

''No that's not right Gibbs. Good rote learn, but only use that term when someone talks about e-mail. Geez Gibbs your gunna trip yourself up. I would love to see Tony's face when you use it.''

''Already have and it was priceless. Now the blood? Abbs.''

''Oh right Blood samples… a no brainer here too Gibbs. The bloods on Marley's clothes are petty officer Williams and Rose Louise Hanson, her biological mother. Need Caf POW Gibbs.''

''Any powder on Marley's clothes?''

''Nope … not a trace .. Zilch . Need Caf Pow''

''Get me one more shooter and you get Caf Pow. ''

''I've got to get the gun first. Then when I get the gun I can get the owner. But it's not your normal, long range barrette... it's a little smaller, just as deadly and fast, but smaller. Maybe its custommade? You know I mean what if it was a hit; assassins' have their own guns made Gibbs. Going to it now great grey haired wise one. She saluted.

Good girl . he kissed her on the forehead and left, flicking her music on as he went.

**CA to bull pen; Gibbs strides in.**

''Mc Gee !''

Tim McGee got out of his chair and navigated the controls to the large monitor. Bringing up pictures and the documentations' of those he spoke about.

''Petty officer Williams joined a little over eighteen months ago. Works in PR and requirements. Has a degree in Business and Photography. No tour of duty yet and not down for any. Has a pretty clean record except for a D&O over a year ago.''

''What's he doing at the club?''

''Friends and patrons at the club …" the Island" owned by a Mr. Ray Isles, know him as a regular. He's a bit of a player. No known association with Rose Louise Hanson other than they were both frequent visitors the club.''

McGee hit another button and Roses' photo flipped up.

''Rose Louise Hanson, 41 years of age, freelance writer. Next of kin, Marley raised Hanson, her daughter 14 years…''

''12 years ''interjected Gibbs

Tim looked confused but then continued on."Umm. Nicolas Brett Hanson, brother 38 years, he's navy intelligence recorded as missing in action. Files tagged there boss – Classified and sealed – I can get….''

''No you can't… the director have dad a discussion on him. There's something going on there but it's not related and we're staying clear of it. ( For NOW he thought ) . Got anything else?''

''Jonathan "Jack" Hanson father deceased 2002. Marine, tours of duty include The Falklands. Louise Marie Hanson, Mother deceased Diagnosed with bipolar in 1996 just before her mother was diagnosed with Cancer. Rose is under the care of Dr Alistair Kean. She has duel custody of Marley with Family services... Marley spends 3- 4 nights a week with Rose and the other in a group Home. It's a relative new respite program that Dr Kean initiated through family services for Kids with parents living with a mental illness or conditions. He has received several grants for the initiative and hoping to set up similar homes. The ages of the other adolescents range from 14 – 21. The age minimum requirement for the program is 14 and the max 23 years. And the candidates must be enrolled in a school or university program. Miss Gillian Riggs and Dr Kean share supervision of the adolescents' in this program and work with the families. Miss Riggs is due here about 4, to sit in on the interview with Marley. ''

''Do we know why Rose was at the bar… "the island?''

''Mr Isles and his staff were interviewed. Like I said Rose was known to both the owner and several members of his staff. So was Marley to some extent. Rose often visited, though not a big drinker. They were aware of her condition and they sort of looked out for both of them. Rose came into the bar at about nine pm; we've got that on video. One of the girls said she was a bit stressed out, she had a drink, then started to feel unwell. It was late, so Ray let her relax on the sofa in the office and they rang Marley to tell her where she was and that they'd put her in a taxi later. They had no idea that Marley had come looking for her. What happened after that is not known. But they both ended up in the car park with Petty officer Williams. No one remembers seeing him at the club or Rose Leaving. ''

''Have you been through all the video footage ,including Fornells''

''We've been through the clubs footage. There's footage of Rose but none of Williams. We have Roche and tony and Ziva as well as Fornell's team. There's no contact between any of them. Fornell's got his footage and is bringing it over. There might be something in that.''

''Could be a connection.''

''Yes well we were looking for a marine to make contact. Maybe it was a set up as a distraction Boss?''

Gibbs stared at the pictures still up on the screen . Marley's picture was included. "What do you know kid." he wondered.

''When Tony and Ziva get here I want to interview Marley straight away. If there is a connection , I don't think they are directly involved. Still could be just a bad coincidence. ''

''You don't believe in coincidences Boss''

Just then the elevator door opened and Fornell entered the bull pen, followed by Saks and another agent they hadn't seen before.

''Neither do I!'' said Fornell. "Tony, Ziva and Marley have just dodged another bullet at the hospital. ''

Tim and Gibbs straightened, ready to move. Tobias raised his hand.

"Relax… they're all alright. They're on their way back now. Ziva insisted on driving so they're not far behind.''

Saks quipped as he moved behind Tony's desk and sat in the chair.'' Well maybe you should!, I hear Ziva could give Top Run a trip for their money"

Fornell gave Gibbs an apologetic look, silently communicating "sorry I know … he is a dick"

Tim was indignant . Nobody made fun out of their team except them. Saks was a smug know it all.

Tobias moved on. ''So you were saying coincidence. Don't think so. We are looking for a marine; a marine gets shot; suspect escapes: shooter gets shot; witness get shot at…complicated and unusual circumstances aside the fact is… ''

''MY PEOPLE ARE IN DANGER! ''Gibbs roared.

Fornell didn't flinch ''And so is my witness. ''

''My Witness- family's navy and one dead marine!''

The elevators opened again . Tony Ziva and Marley walked in. Tim visibly relieved; observed the eye contact between Tony and Gibbs and then the slight nod of Gibbs head.

''All Good Boss! ''He then swung around a glared at Saks who was sitting in his chair. He moved toward him and depressed the height lever on the chair with his foot. The chair immediately dropped. Saks jolted and fixed Tony with a stare.

" Cars in the basement " said Ziva. ''The bullets'are being sent up to Abby"

Fornell spoke without even acknowledging Marley.'' If it's the same shooter Jethro, I want to be in on the interview with the girl.''

''NO!''

Tobias and Jethro were now staring each other off and with Tony and Saks doing the same thing in the other corner, the entire scene was quite an interesting and a humorous image. Marley knew that these guys pretty much didn't like each other.

That became a most definite when Tony said to Saks "Heard you lost Roche!"

Saks expression went hard and his lipped tight, then he broke the stare. He moved towards McGee's computer and punched at the keys and then made his way to stand in front of the large screen, snatching the control out of McGees' hands as he passed. A picture of Roche came up and he started going over the information they had on him and their case to date. There was no new information and Tony exaggerated a yawn as Saks droned on. Marley Smiled at Tony's antic; she noticed the spare video control on Tony's desk and picked it up. Saks pressed another button on his control which bought up video footage of the club. He then continued to navigate through the footage, highlighting different persons and zooming in on suspects. While he was panning in, Marley hit her pause button and the video stopped. Saks hit his play button again and started to talk . Marley then hit the rewind button and the scene reversed quickly back . By coincidence the scene showed Saks and his partner undercover and drinking, while they watched their suspect. Saks was starting to get annoyed and frustrated and slammed the play button hard. The video moved forward again. Marley was enjoying pulling this "dicks" chain and totally went for it. This Time, she sped up the footage, then hit play, then reverse. She had it looking like Saks and his partner were downing drink after a drink, chatting away in helium voices and laughing like Alvin and the chipmunks. Rewind, fast forward, rewind , fast forward. Saks was losing it as was just about to smash the control in his hands when tony yelled out.

''Oh look this is where Roche takes off!''

With that Marley hit pause and then Slow motion. The exaggerated expressions on Saks face and his partners were priceless. The team burst out laughing but no one was as loud as Tony. Trying to contain his belly laugh, he spotted Marley out of the corner of his eye and watched her slip the control back on his desk out of view. He gave her a wink. He walked up to Saks and grabbed the control from him.

''You talk .. I'll press the buttons.''

Saks totally red faced spat out '' there's not much more except… ''

''Except that you lost Roche''

''Except that we know that he was supposed to meet someone in the bar , a Marine, and that there are more than the two of them involved …. Shooter! and most likely others which may and probably does in my opinion include the woman Rose!

Marley quickly looked to Gibbs. He could see the tears start to well up in her eyes. So did Ziva. She moved and plopped herself next to Marley at Tony's desk and took her hand. ( Rule no 10 broke!)

PING. The elevator opened again and every body's attention was suddenly drawn to the figure exiting. A tall female figure wearing check red pants, a leather studied collar and wristbands. On her head was a black motorbike helmet adorned with a skull and cross bones. It sipped a rather enormous cup of CAF POW.

" ahh... ahh... Gibbs I can explain!

Gibbs raised his eyebrows.'' I'll bet.''

''Should be good'' whispered Tobias.

''I needed it Gibbs. The babies are still working , I'm bored, I 'm just waiting Gibbs!''

''The Helmet Abbs''

''Oh That- Yah …well the hearse is being serviced, you know it was making this clunky sound , well not really a clunky sound sort of a burr clink , clink burr …''

''ABBS! ''The team shouted.

''Ok aaay. Well sister Mary Ellen lent me her electric scooter, until I get my boy back.''

''Domina nica nica nica ''

''Domina nica nica nica'' Marley and Tony sang in unison, then high fived each other.''

''The Singing Nun''

''Debbie Reynolds''

Gibbs wasn't close enough; so he gave McGee the cue to slap Tony up the back of the head. .

''Slap..Ow….stopping singing now boss.''

''He is not gonna head slap me is he?'' asked Marley

Abby grabbed Marley and pulled her in close. " No but watch your butt"

Gibbs smirked. His team it appears were in full protection mode of this 'spunky 'little girl.

''Abbs they're sending up another bullet for you to trace.''

''What, where did it come from?''

''Our taillight!'' added Ziva

''Abbey get it tested. I want to know if it's the same as the others found at the club.'' Ordered Gibbs.

''Wait, Tony and Ziva you were shot at ? Oh my god…. GiBBSSSS. What did I tell you . Oh and Marley. She's just a kid, what sick fu….''

''ABBY!''

''Uh…. Strait way Gibbs . I'll test it straight away!''

Before she could exit Marley called out.

''Wait, wait .. uhh I just remembered. I kept going to give it this to you.. but I forgot …then we got shot at and I guess I forgot again…''

She fumbled with the pocket of her track pants and handed Abby the xd card. " the man gave it to me .. The marine. It kinda didn't take much notice at the time . I mean he was bleeding so much and Rose was screaming. I'm sor…''

Saks quickly turned to the young girl and interrupted her. " What , you've had this all this time. You sure he gave it to you. You're mum didn't give it you did she? ''

''No the marine did Honest.. I just forgot. I'm sorry !"

Saks grabbed Marley by the arm ''well sorry's not gonna cut it, you've effectively withheld evidence, evidence we probably won't be able to use!''

Both Gibbs and Fornell were about to intersect Saks manhandling of the girl ,when Marley suddenly turned and kneed Saks in the groin. She then dropped to the floor in a defensive sit with her leg and foot raised at Saks. Saks folded and turned, then tried to stand up, grabbing his testicles in a bid to catch them before they flew out his mouth. Ziva offered her help by applying a quick and sharp undercut to his belly and he dropped to the floor unable to make a sound.

(Rule no 10 BOOM and gone!)

Fornell looked again to Gibbs saying "I know he's a dick and then moved and stepped over Saks. Come on Saks, swallow Uncle Jim and the Twins and get back to headquarters. Before the elevator doors closed Tobias said to Gibbs. " We'll find Roche!"

''Abby ran to Marley. Good Girl , Good Girl . You deserve a drink.''

**FREEZE FRAME - Mid Long Shot Abby with motor bike helmet on. Solid ( Super Hero )stance with arm extended with CAF POW offered forward. Convert black and white, Filter red on café Pow add exploading text CUT-  
**

**NB- to executive – Consider product placement contract. **

A.N. Sorry you had to wade through all that, just consider it two chapters without the freeze frame. Most of the hard work is done now. The investigation clues are there, the developing relationships between characters and their background, all set ( and I've tried ) within the conventions of the show. It gets quicker from now on, you'll meet Gillian and get some plot hints for sequels. Tell me If I should bother. Review and let me know.


	5. Anger

FREEZE FRAME

Summary: A case that the NCIS team and Fornell's FBI are working on goes terribly wrong when a young girl gets caught in the middle of it all.

Disclaimer: I do not own NCIS nor did I create it Donald Bellisaio and Don Mc Gill did, and a damn fine job they do too.

Chapter 5 ANGER

**FREEZE FRAME - Cut Jethro and Gillian squeezed tightly together in door frame. Mid profile shot, convert to Black and white. CUT.**

**Fade in The Bull Pen .Present are Tony, Ziva, Abby, Mc Gee, Gibbs and Marley.**

"Abby, find out what's on that thing."

"XD card, Gibbs"

"Mc Gee, go work with Abbs. Ziva, Tony, get your reports written up, then when Miss Riggs arrives, put her in interrogation room 2.''

Marley expected to get an instruction, or rather an order, but was still a little unnerved when Gibbs called her over with his finger.

"Marley, you're with me''

''Where will you be, boss?" asked Tony.

''Marley and I are going to have a little talk before we take a statement. We'll be in the conference room. Call me when Miss Riggs get here.''

"Gillian, "interrupted Marley

Gibbs raised one eyebrow. "Call me when Gillian gets here. "

Gibbs walked off with Marley following close behind. She looked back over her shoulder at Tony and Ziva. Ziva smiled at her and Tony nodded, reassuring the young girl, that it was okay and that Gibbs was okay. Marley ran smack into Gibbs' back when he suddenly stopped at the vending machine and purchased a bottle of water and can of Coke. Marley jolted, stepped back, then blushed as Gibbs handed her the can of soda.

"Thirsty?"

"Very!"

Gibbs led Marley into the conference room. He pulled a chair out from the head of the table and held it out for her to sit. He then pulled out a chair and sat at her side. Marley fiddled with the ring top of her soda and snapped it open as Gibbs spoke.

"That's going to fizz."

The soda started to gurgle and fizz, so Marley quickly dropped her head and put her mouth over the hole. Gibbs watched in amusement as the girl's cheeks ballooned out in the attempt to contain both air and liquid. Gibbs chuckled and Marley lifted her head up to return a smile. Both Marley and Gibbs sat in silence for what seemed like forever. Marley said something just for the sake of it.

"Don't you have to read me my rights or something before you can ask me questions?''

"Nope"

''Well, should I have, like, a guardian or a representative here? Shouldn't we wait for Gillian before you interrogate me? ''

''This is not an interrogation. We don't interrogate **12 **year olds'' He said smoothly.

Marley's heart jumped a beat, but she remained silent and went back to examining and fiddling with the ring top on the Coke can.

"If you want we can wait. I'm sure Miss Riggs, Gillian, will want to know how your birth certificate was changed on two official government documents."

"Oh that!"

"Yes, that!. Kinda' figured out the why, though, and maybe the how doesn't really matter. Just the same, I am curious."

"Well, mainly I needed to stay in the program. Family Services wanted to take me away from Mom. Uncle Nic wouldn't let them. But when he went missing they wanted to put me into the foster system. Alistair , Rose's therapist, has set up this new program; sort of a home where kids in the same situation like me get a bit of a break and get to be in a family situation. Anyway, Alistair said it would be good for me and good for Rose. So he organised it, and got me in. Then Family services left us alone."

"Ok, good reason, "said Gibbs

"Yeah, but they will probably move me out now."

"Maybe they won't"

"Yeah, they will. The program is just a trial. They have really strict criteria, and Alistair has to stick to it or they will cut off the funding."

"Maybe Alistair and Gillian already know. " Gibbs wondered how they couldn't. The little girl was just that, "little ", mature in some ways, maybe, and smart, but she didn't look any older than 10 or 11.

"If they did, they never said ; I had my birth certificate changed ages ago. I wanted to enrol in a couple of advanced courses on the Home School Web but they had age requirements. It was pretty easy to change stuff on the computer because nobody ever sees what you look like. Plus, on some sites, like 'Facebook ' they really don't look into it all that much. But the biggest hassle was when I needed to get Mom's medication and stuff. I was sick of forging notes and using bad fake ID's, though they pretty much worked at the video store when I wanted to rent "NC-17" rated films."

"So you hacked into a government agency and altered an official document. You do know that's a Federal Offence." That wasn't a question.

"No. I'm not that smart, but I needed to make it more, like official, just in case anybody really looked into my files. So I found this guy of the internet who could do it and, well, he did it for me. I know fourteen isn't that much older, but it was old enough to do some of the stuff I needed to do"

"You WHAT?. You're right about one thing. That was not a very SMART thing to do. Do you know how dangerous that was; just contacting a complete stranger on the Internet to do illegal crap like that? Criminal stuff like that? "

Gibbs was starting to lose his temper, contemplating the what's and what if's.

Marley became a little more uncomfortable and attempted to clear up her mistake.

"No it wasn't a complete stranger! It was a friend through a friend, through a friend on my Facebook."

This added information did not quell Gibb's building frustration and fuelled his sarcastic response. "Oh well, that's okay then. I mean a friend of a friend of a friend that you've never MET before! If you were my kid I'd." Gibbs didn't get the chance to finish his sentence.

"Well, I'm not your kid. I'm not anybody's kid. So just, chill out. Do you know how hard it is to be a kid and be taken seriously? They were gonna take Rose away from me. I mean they were gonna take me away from Rose. This was the best way I could look after her. This was the best way I could look after me. I can't be a kid, a little kid. I just needed to be a bit older so I could get into the program. I didn't mean to break the law. I wasn't friggin' hurting anyone!"

Marley had stood up and paced around the room while gesticulating wildly with her hands as she spoke every word. Gibbs found it a little amusing and let her continue her 'therapeutic 'rant until she picked up the can of Coke and hurtled it at the wall.

"I don't friggin care anymore. Put me in some jail or a home for crazy kids of crazy parents… Whatever! You're all a bunch of dicks anyway!"

Marley slumped, exhausted. It felt good when she threw the can at the wall though, watching it spray and trickle down the wall. While still panting and starring at the dripping mess, she failed to see Gibbs expression change. Gibbs stood up, walked over and picked Marley up under her arms. He sat the lightweight little girl on the edge of the table. Bracing his arms and hands on bent knees, he looked straight into her eyes.

"Looks like a kid, acts like a kid. Gee, must be a kid!"

Marley was a little ashamed of her outburst, nevertheless she tried to defend her actions. Gibbs put his hand up and placed it on her lips.

"I know you haven't had a lot of time to be a kid. You've spent most of your time being the parent. I realise that it's not your fault, nor was it your Mom's. But that little display was simply, a full blown temper tantrum."

Marley tried to interject, but again Gibbs put his hand up to stop her.

"And I understand why you put yourself in danger, but you don't have to protect Rose anymore." Gibbs knew that sounded harsh. He continued on trying to convince Marley that she needn't feel responsible, or guilty; that they would look after everything from now on.

" You are not in charge! That doesn't mean you're not entitled to know what's going on or not have a say in what happens to you, but you need to let us do our job. "

Marley's stubborn looking expression started to soften as Gibbs continued.

"It seems to me that right now, it is you that needs the parenting. So I will offer this: you bite, kick shins or groins, throw heavy objects at any of my agents or put yourself in any danger I will put you over my knee and give you a spanking like you've never had before."

Marley believed every word of Gibbs threat. She wasn't sure whether he was legally allowed to do that, but somehow she didn't think that would stop him.

''Looks like a kid, acts like a kid and will be treated like a kid.'' he stated. ''Now you need to get something to clean up this mess and then Ziva will take you down to Abby's lab while I talk to Gillian."

"Are you going to tell her my real age?"

"No. You weren't being interrogated, remember? It can't be used against you" he smirked.

"Can I see Gillian?"

"Yep. She will sit in when we take your statement about last night."

"That's going to be hard."

"Yes it is. But I will be there and Gillian will be there."

"Can Ziva be there, too?"

"If you want her there."

"I do."

**CA Interrogation room 2. Interview with Gillian Riggs.**

Gibbs walked into the interrogation room and laid his file on the table as he sat down, opposite a. _'hmm…. a very attractive woman in her late 30's early 40's ,maybe, with strawberry blonde hair pulled up of her face but leaving a few curls to frame her pretty face'._ he thought_.  
_

The woman stood up as soon as Gibbs entered the room and she offered her hand as he sat down.

"Gibbs? Gillian Riggs. Where is Marley? "

Jethro was slightly embarrassed that he'd forgotten simple pleasantries, although the usual 'low lifes' he had interrogated in here didn't deserve were also never this pretty.

"Special Agent, Jethro Gibbs. I'm in charge of this investigation. Marley is with one of my agents and will be joining us shortly. I wanted to ask you a few questions, before we take Marley's official statement. I presume you know that Marley's mother was killed last night. "

"Yes, and that she witnessed not only Roses' death, but also that of a young marine."

"Who she tried to save" added Gibbs.

"Oh, my! How is she?"

"Doing pretty well considering. She's a smart girl, pretty mature for her 'age'."

Gillian picked up the emphasis of Gibbs words, but let them pass for the moment"

"Yes, well, she has had unusual experiences. While Rose was Dr Kean's patient, Marley's welfare was also a priority. What was good for Marley was good for Rose and vice versa. Since Marley has been in Duel Care, she has had the time to be a kid and concentrate on her studies. It has given her the opportunity to be just like lots of other kids her 'age 'and experience a family environment, though, surrogate that may be."

"Yes. I know how much that means to her. It is the thing that concerns her the most at the moment. She is worried that she is going to lose all that, to the point that she has ignored her own safety and put herself in danger."

"What do you mean?" asked Gillian.

"While Marley was still at the hospital with my agents, they were shot at"

"What? My god, that's all she needs"

"Like I said, that's not what she's really afraid of. She calls herself 'nobody's kid."

"Marley very rarely sees herself as a kid. But, since joining the program she has began to change. She has developed sibling relationships with the other adolescents in the home and is slowly accepting me as a guardian. We've started to see some very typical adolescent behaviour, which is really good,a pain in the ass, maybe, but still very healthy and normal."

"Sounds like she needs to stay in the program. Is there a possibility that could be arranged on a permanent basis?"

"Unfortunately, no. It's a trial program and funding very stringent, based on the study and the criteria for candidates; for example the AGE of the candidates. The program was set up as a respite situation involving the duel custody and care between us and the parents. Marley's mother is dead and her uncle is missing. Duel Care won't be an option."

"Surely rules can be manipulated?"

"You mean broken, don't you?"

"No I mean sometimes you're wrong"

"Rules have already been, shall I say, overlooked. But the admissions committee and Children's Family Services won't be able to overlook Marley's present circumstances. "

"We are going to have a problem then."

"I didn't say something could not be done about it. I very much appreciate your interest and concern in Marley's welfare. I've thought about this over the day and have got a few ideas that could be just as beneficial for Marley long term. I have already started to pursue them. But protocols take time. Though, too much time. As soon as you have taken Marley's statement, she will have to be placed in temporary care with Children's Family Services. "

"She won't be going anywhere with anyone. At this very moment she is in protective custody of NCIS and my team. And I will decide when she is safe and when the protective custody order gets lifted."

"Or manipulated?"

"Call it what you will."

"Well then, let's get her statement, so I can to work on the documentation that I will need to get in front of certain authorities, if we are to get her home."

"Take all the time you need to get it done properly. This can't backfire on her."

Ziva opened the door and bought Marley through. She ran to Gillian and hugged her.

"Gillian!" She held tight for a moment and then sat down next to Gillian, while Ziva took up her usual position by the door.

"Marley, I want you to tell us everything about last night. We will be recording everything you say, and then it will get typed up. You will then sign it and Miss Riggs will witness it.

"You can call me Gillian, Agent Gibbs"

"Hey, Riggs, Gibbs, could get confusing." Marley quipped

"Funny girl!" Gibbs chuckled.

"Barbara Streisand!" replied Marley.

"You've been spending too much time with Di Nozzo. Now, Marley, start telling us about last night. Start from when mum went out."

"Well, we were at home and I was helping mom with one of her scripts. She was getting really stressed out about it. So at about 8 o'clock I said 'let's call it quits. We can have some tea, then sit down and watch an old movie.' She said she wanted to go out to 'The Island', the club, for a while just to chill out. I told her no. I mean, it wasn't a good idea. She had had her medication, but she needed something to eat and really needed to rest. We had a bit of an argument. She grabbed a cracker and munched on it and then said "Okay, happy now"? …I tried to make her stay home, but she told me I wasn't her mom. That she was the grown up, and that meant she could do as she wanted. Then she stormed out. Ray called me about an hour later to say that she was there and that she had a drink and wasn't feeling so well. He said he'd let her sleep on the sofa in his office. Then he would send her home in a taxi. Rose had taken the car, and I knew that it was going to be a hassle to get it back in the morning. So I grabbed a taxi and the spare keys and went to the club. I was going to get Rose and drive home. I've done it before. It's easier to drive home at night unnoticed.

Both Gibbs and Gillian interrupted. "You've been driving?"

"Uh oh yeah, um, can we not put that part in?"

"NO!" They both answered, and then Gillian continued.

"And when we get home, young lady, consider yourself grounded for a month. And if you ever get behind the wheel within the next four years you will be grounded for life!"

Marley liked the sound of the word home, but being grounded for the next four years until she turned 16 sucked. Then it twigged. Gillian knew. Marley turned on Gibbs.

"Thanks, thanks a lot. You told...you bastard!" She yelled. Marley stood up and kicked the chair, sending it to the corner of the room. She then crossed behind Gillian and headed towards the door. Ziva straightened and took a step to block her exit.

"Marley Rose Hanson!" Gillian and Gibbs yelled at the same time again. This time Gillian deferred to Gibbs.

"You SIT back down, this minute and finish this statement. I did not tell Gillian anything!. She already had a pretty good idea." Gillian looked sheepishly at Gibbs, but there was no judgement expressed in his eyes. They were clearly fixed on Marley.

"Now you've got to the count of three to get your butt in that chair or you will find sitting in said chair very uncomfortable." He narrowed his gaze at her." And that is your last warning!"

Marley pouted, crossed her arms and stared.

"ONE!"

Marley moved. She picked up the chair and sat down, clearly still not happy. Gillian gently took her hand.

"Marley don't worry about home. I've got something planned. It will be alright. Trust me. Now finish your statement and let these people do their job. You need to trust them too."

"I do. But, can we still take the bit out about the car?"

"Nope. This is an official statement...and will be used against you if need be. But don't worry, you won't go to jail," answered Gibbs sarcastically.

The inferred threat didn't go unnoticed by Gillian or Marley. Gillian smiled and Marley chose to ignore it. She continued on with her description and statement.

"Well, when I got to the parking lot, I couldn't find the car, so I pressed the remote and saw the lights flash. When I got there Rose, Mom, was screaming 'No get off, leave me alone.' I could hear the guy, saying he was sorry, that he thought that she had wanted, had wanted it. Rose was hitting him and he turned to get out of the car. But then the gun went off and he fell out. He sort of crawled over to me and fell on his back. I could see that he was bleeding. I grabbed his shirt and pushed into his stomach and tried to stop the bleeding. Mum was screaming behind me. I didn't know she had the gun. The man tried to sit up and he grabbed me. He gave me the XD card, but I forgot about it. Mom was screaming, and then I heard Ziva yell out for Rose to drop the gun. Then the man got shot again. Then Rose got shot, and I ran to her. I could see her eyes. I don't remember much more. I remember I threw up. The next thing I remember is being in the ambulance. "

"Did the man say anything to you?" asked Gillian

Gibbs gave her the; I'll ask the questions look. Ziva smirked.

"Can you remember what the Petty Officer said?"

"No, I can't remember. I think he wanted me to give it to someone but I forgot about it. It ended up getting stuck to my jeans with all the blood."

"Okay then. Ziva get that typed up and then get it signed by both Marley and Gillian. I'm heading down to see Abby; to see what she's found on the"

"XD card. Can I come?" asked Marley

"Sure,"said Gibbs.

Marley jumped up and joined Ziva as they walked through the door. As Gibbs approached the door, Gillian stood up and stopped him just at the opening.

"Agent Gibbs, do I need to stick around while Marley's statement is being typed up.? I would like to get started on arranging Marley's guardianship."

Gibbs stopped in the door frame and turned to say "well, it shouldn't take very long."

"Maybe so, but I like to arrange temporary guardianship as soon as possible and, well, its afterhours now. Finding a judge may be difficult."

Gillian moved and met Gibbs side on within the confines of the door frame. Gibbs chose that same moment to pull out Judge Knight's business card from his pants pocket.

"After all, "said Gillian "I'll be back and it's not going anywhere, Agent Gibbs."

Gibbs cleared his throat and said "Please, call me Jethro"

**FREEZE FRAME- Cut Jethro and Gillian squeezed tightly together in door frame. Mid profile shot, convert to Black and white. CUT.**

TBC – Chapter 6. THE Xd CARD

The pieces all come together with Marley's help.

A.N Thanks for the great reviews people. Thanks also for being so patient, I hope I don't muck this next part up. A big thank you to Harliquinn for helping me edit and improve this chapter.


	6. The XD Card

FREEZE FRAME

Summary: A case that the NCIS team and Fornell's FBI are working on goes terribly wrong when a young girl gets caught in the middle of it all.

Disclaimer: I do not own NCIS nor did I create it Donald Bellisaio and Don Mc Gill did, and a damn fine job they do too.

Warning: This chapter contains the use of the" F" by a minor. Don't like, imagine she used friggin' instead. (Sorry it's late. This chapter is killing me!)A few other bad words too.

**Chapter 6 The Xd Card**

**FREEZE FRAME - cut mid shot, profile Gibbs and Marley. Gibbs is crouched hand on knees, eyes fixed on Marley. Menacing and warning glare. Convert black and white. CUT**

**Fade in music; dissolve Abby's Lab. Gibbs and Marley enter with Caf POW in hand.**

Gibbs and Marley entered as Abby turned to greet them. Marley handed her a Caf POW.

"And well deserved too… I have heaps Gibbs… I have a little problem ,but with a little wor, a little patience, a little extraction here, a little enhancing there, I should be able to work it out.

"Abbs!"

"Okay, Okay. First the gun. It's Korean! …sort of a duplo version of our 416 Barretta, but smaller instead of bigger. "

"Duplo?"

"Yeah, there's Lego, the original building blocks, and, then there's Duplo. It's the same, but bigger for little kids so they don't choke on it. "

Gibbs still didn't get it.

"Never mind. Anyway, guns sort of off the radar but the bullets aren't. So I traced all the purchases of such bullets in the area and got over 500 purchases in the last month. Great Hey?"

"500, Abbs?"

"Yeah right. I narrowed down the search, took a bit of educated guess really. Okay, so I typed in all our names and the names of all people associated with this case as well as Fornell's Feds and …"

"Did you put Rose's name in there?" asked Marley.

"Yeah I did, honey… But you know it's okay; it's okay because she didn't match."

"Who matched, Abby?" asked Gibbs

"Roche! … Roche matched, Gibbs. Roche is the killer Gibbs!"

Gibbs didn't react. Roche being the killer didn't sound feasible, but he wasn't about to voice that opinion yet.

"What about the card?"

"Well, that's another kettle of fish, as my granny used to say."

"It's Korean, too?"

"Nope, it's ours. But it's not your usual memory card. Well it is, but it has heaps and heaps of memory… like a terabyte. Which is really cool because it's like so small, so it could be used to transport lots of information in just an ordinary camera…..And it can do lots of stuff like convert files, oh, and it can be used in lots of different media. But it's not commercial yet. "

"You said it's ours?"

"Yeah it's a military invention Gibbs, but it's no great secret. It's been talked about in memos and stuff. They've developed it mainly to store video surveillance logs. It can take heaps of footage, and then breaks it down into 30 minute clips. It's a prototype, though, and Williams should not have had it."

"What's on it?"

"Not a lot. It has pictures of plans. They look like the design specifications for the card, including the Intel make-up, codec's and utilities and how the card stores and converts. There are also pictures of maps, with overlays and little animations with projections and details of different locations'. I suppose that could be of interest to some military or terrorist groups, but they were not high security areas. But, I will do a double check on that. There may be something that we're missing. Then there are the pictures of our pin up boy, Christopher Williams, in different uniforms taken, in different settings, advertising the career opportunities available for marines."

"That's probably how he got the card. He worked in PR, and was involved in the latest recruitment campaigns. Plus he had a degree in Photography. Maybe, he swiped the proto type during one of the photo shoots," suggested Gibbs

"Yeah, or maybe the media department were asked to trial it out. You know test it. If that was the case, the IT department would not be alerted to the fact it was missing."

"Is there anything in those recruitment pictures, in the background say, that depict anything that would be a threat to national security, or be of interest to terrorist groups. "

"I don't know. I can start enhancing them and extracting details from the background. That may take a bit of work. Not that it's hard, it's just going to take some time. But it seems a bit of a stretch, Gibbs. The recruitment and PR departments wouldn't be allowed anywhere that would have stuff like that for them to film."

"Well ,there has got to be a reason why someone would want to kill two people and try to kill a 12 year old girl."

"What other reasons, other than selling military secrets, or international espionage would there be?"

"Your guess is as good as mine, Abbs. I know nothing about this sort of stuff. I'd never even heard of an XD card until today."

"Well, this one's pretty cool. I sure could use one of these little babies. They'd probably cost a fortune, but it would be worth it for businesses' that have huge archives of information that need to be stored. That would include the defence forces. That's probably it Gibbs! That would make sense, I mean ,yeah, it would cost a fortune and the little everyday person probably wouldn't want one , even though it could, like, hold a trillion family snaps , that would run your digital photo frame, like, for a year. The ordinary person would probably lose it. I mean its small, and we are such a throwaway society, Gibbs. They'd probably lose it and then they would have lost a trillion photos. That would be devastating for some people ….."

"ABBS? That's it? That's not making much sense to me Abby. Stay on track."

"Sorry, o wise one. It's not international spy, terrorist espionage stuff, it's industrial espionage stuff. If the Koreans could, like Duplo this, copy it, they could make a fortune. I mean some 8th grader is probably working on it now too, and will have it developed and patented before he can grow hair on his weenie. But that's just it; the window of opportunity to make big bucks is now. Copy before it s commercial and you get the money."

"Okay. That's, maybe, a feasible theory. Big Bucks, I get that. But not much good, unless we find the shooter. Is there anything on the XD CARD that could ID our Shooter?"

"But Roche is the Shooter, Gibbs."

"Couldn't be Abbs. He was still under surveillance when Rose and Williams were shot. Sak's is not that incompetent." Actually, Gibbs though Saks was a pretty good officer. He just didn't like the man. "And, we have video footage of him leaving the bar after the shots were fired in the parking lot. "

"There is other stuff on the card. Correction was on the card."

"Do you know what it might have been?"

"Nope. But it was a prototype, Gibbs, so it probably has some little unironed kinks in it. I noticed some ghosting from photos that had been deleted. Williams or whoever might have played around with it, testing it."

"Can you get the pictures back?"

"But of course, I am a genius, and I should be able to extract it. May take some time, and I don't know how much detail we'll get, but we could get lucky. "

"Good. Now, can you keep Marley down here with you? She may be able to help. She might recognise something."

"Sure Gibbs, but I don't know how much help she's gonna be. Look!"

Abby pointed to the futon that sat against the wall in her office. A small figure could be seen curled up and resting her head on a large round stuffed toy that seemed to be snoring louder than the child that was fast asleep.

"Poor kid, she must be exhausted."

"Yeah, cute isn't she! Gotta blanket Abbs?"

Abby went and got a throw rug and gently laid it over Marley.

Waving his arms around, Gibbs whispered "Tuck her in Abby. All around."

Suddenly Gibbs phone rang. "Gibbs… where?…. Address?… We'll be there in five. "

"Gibbs? What is it?"

"Keep Marley with you Abbs. And Abby, don't let her out of your sight. "

"GIBBBBS ! What's wrong?"

"Roche! They've found his body!"

Twenty minutes later Marley woke up and stretched. She needed the sleep and it felt good, warm and safe. Abby had put on some softer music, that she was lucky to find, and had worked steadily at her computer, trying to enhance the ghost images left on the memory card. Marley walked over to Abby.

"What are you doing, Abbs?"

"Marley? You're awake. Feel better?"

"Yep." Marley squinted at the screen. "Not a very clear photo is it?"

"No, they're sort of ghost images. I'm trying to get some detail in them, but I'm not having much luck. Can you see anything in them?"

"Not really. That sort of looks like a room or something. See, there's a window and a door."

"Maybe if we find another one we might be able to see what's out the window and then we will know where the room is." Abby pulled up another image onto the screen. Okay, this will take about ten minutes to enhance. Hey, you Hungry?

"A Little."

"There's a sandwich on my can have that if you want."

"Yeah thanks." Marley went back to Abby's desk and picked up the sandwich, unwrapped it and started to eat it. She noticed a set of keys on the desk with a key ring that had a bowling ball with pins flying off it. Marley picked them up and walked back to Abby eating the sandwich and twirling the keys.

"What are these for ,Abby?"

"Oh, they are the keys to Sister Mary Ellen's moped. See. "Abby pointed to the basement windows and the bright pink moped parked outside.

Marley laughed."It looks like a barbie scooter"

"I know, how embarrassing. I parked it there so nobody would notice me in the staff parking lot. Actually we all park around there." Marley followed Abby to the window. "See there's' Gibbs Chevy, Ducky's vintage Morgan, Tim drives the Porsche and there's Tony's pride and joy, a '66 Ford Mustang. That's his second one; the first one got blown up. He was lucky to find another. He is slowly restoring it; to its former glory! "

"What about Ziva?"

"Oh no, we try not to let her drive."

Just then Abby's computer pinged. The girls went back to the monitor. "Gee, not much detail."

"Some outlines, though. Maybe if you opened it up in an illustrator program, you could kinda join up the dots. Then block fill parts, and then we might be able to tell what it is."

"Good idea. We may have to use a little artistic licence, though."

Marley and Abby played around with the image trying to build up its form and structure.

"It looks like an object… no a face… is it a face… pretty ugly face if it is… No it's a…A totem mask."

Marley looked closer at the screen."Hey I know that …Sam I am Sam I am. I know where that is" And then she ran.

"Marley! Come back here."Abby could see Marley arrive at the pink scooter. She'd run out through the basement's security door, and was now trying to start Sister Mary Ellen's scooter.

"Oh no, Marley stop! …Come back here." Abby grabbed her phone and a spare set of car keys from the top draw of her desk. Tony's car keys; a legacy of Chip, the evil and deformed assistant. He had tried to frame Tony and had made a copy of Tony's keys so that he could plant evidence. The keys were never submitted as evidence, because they were never discovered , not until Abby set fire to his effigy, and other personal items that he'd left behind. The chances of these keys fitting his new car was slim, but not impossible, they were the same year. If luck had its way, they would now come in handy. She needed to chase a pink scooter with a 12 year old at the controls. Who was now, on the run.

Abby made it to Tony's car just as Marley had got the scooter started. She hit the speed dial on her phone.

**CA Gibbs car. Tony is in the front, Ziva and McGee are in the back. Gibbs is driving, when his phone rings. **

"Gibbs! Gibbs!"

Gibbs hit the hands free button on his phone. "Abbs, what's up?"

"Marley's recognised one of the photos and then she just took off. "

"Took off? Took off, how?"

"On Sister Mary Ellen's scooter. She had my keys ….."

"Abbs, did she say anything?"

"Yeah, she just kept saying, Sam I am Sam I am."

"Casablanca!"

"No, that's green eggs and ham, Tony"

"No, she means the club, The Island. It's the barman."

"Abby stay there. Call Fornell; tell him to get to The Island. "Gibbs threw the phone to Tony and hit the accelerator.

"Don't worry, Abbs. We'll bring her back."

"Ah, guys, I'm not in the lab."

Everybody in the car groaned. Ziva immediately flipped her phone and called for backup.

Abby kept talking while she was driving. "Well, I didn't know where she was Going….. You told me not to take my eyes off her… And I've still got her in sight."

Gibbs yelled "When you get to the club, grab Marley and stay put!"

"Got it."

Tony hesitated, but then couldn't resist asking. "Abby.? What car are you driving?"

"Now, Tony, you know I keep spares for everyone. "

"Not mine," said Gibbs

"Not mine either, Abby," sneered Tony.

"Sorry, bad connection here. I've got to concentrate here, people. It's hard to drive and talk, especially when you need to shift gear with a sticky gear shift."Suddenly they heard the loud crunching of gears.

"ABIGAIL!" Yelled Tony, but the line went quiet.

Marley parked the scooter outside 'The Island' club. She paused, and looked into the parking, recalling the events of the day before. "_Had it only been 24 hours_." she thought, "_a day, it felt like eons ago_". She was quickly bought back to reality as she spotted Tony's car pulling into the entrance.

"_Shit. Abby! What was I thinking_?" Marley hadn't really thought this out. When she saw the mask, she just wanted to see Ray.

"_Ray was their friend. Mom had been in Ray's office. The marine had been in Ray's office. Had they been in there together? The marine was dead, and Rose was dead. She just wanted to know, why? And Ray had the answers, or the answers were in his office!_

The club was still quiet and empty. Things usually didn't liven up until about 9 o'clock. Marley headed off through the side door into the kitchen. One of the waitresses spotted her and called.

"Marley?"

"Oh, hi Sharon. Look, I'm in a bit of a hurry."

"Marley, wait. I heard what happened. Honey, are you alright? Can I help?"

"Uh, no, I mean I'm fine. Sharon, where's Ray?"

"He's behind the bar. Its Rick's night off and Jason called in sick. He's not happy. Actually, he's been in a foul mood since he got back this afternoon."

Marley saw Abby get out of the car and head to the front doors of the club.

"Sharon? Do you think it would be alright if I checked Ray's office for Mom's keys? I need them to get it out of impound." _Sounds feasible, she thought._

"Sure, Honey, go right through."

Marley ran to the office and started looking around. She saw the mask on the wall_. "This was a dumb idea. What am I looking for?" S_he then noticed the camera sitting on the filing cabinet. She went to take it. She then intended to leave, facing Ray could wait. Before she could grab the camera, the door to the office opened and Abby walked in, followed by Ray.

"Abby! Oh, hi, Ray"

Abby gave Marley a forewarning smile and hoped Marley would take her cue." So, Marley, did you get what you were looking for?"

Ray eyed the two girls suspiciously.

"Ah, no, not yet. I'm looking for mom's spare car keys, Ray. I thought they might be here." Marley improvised a search around the office. She walked over to the filing cabinet. Looking at Abby, she shifted her eyes sideways hinting at the camera's presence. Marley's inference was far too contrived and obvious, as far as Abby was concerned. She rolled her eyes and gritted her teeth, hoping that the girl would play it down.

"Hey, Ray. Nice camera. Digital, SLR, oh and, duel card too." Marley went to pick it up but stopped when Abby yelled.

"Don't touch it...I mean, you know, Marley, you're a klutz. It looks expensive .You don't want to break it. Come on, we better get going .It looks like your mom's keys aren't here."

"Yeah, sure. Sorry, Ray, she must have dropped them someplace else."

Ray wasn't buying any of it. "Well, did you check the sofa? That's probably the most likely place." He walked over, then put his hand down between the seat cushions, and pulled out his weapon of choice.

"Well, people, another unfortunate set of circumstances."

Straight away Abby went to Marley and pulled her beside her. She hoped that Gibbs and the team would get here soon. Until then, they would have to appease and stall this sick bas….But before she couldn't finish that thought, Marley lost it.

"No, you are unfortunate, you low life. You killed Mom and that guy. What for? Some stupid little memory card. It's no big secret. What sort of sick fuck are you?"

"I was gonna be a rich sick fuck, if that marine had passed that thing on when he was supposed to. He was late, so I was gonna have to do it. The place was crawling with Feds, so we were just gonna have to wait. Impatient, untrustworthy little shit. He wasn't handing it over until he got his money. He left and obviously picked Rose up in the parking lot. A pissy little memory card alright. But that was just the start of it. Same buyers make other stuff, other copies and sell them to whoever wants them."

"Like that gun?" asked Abby

"Yeah like the gun. But crazy Rose shot the guy. That meant, no card; no card, no money"

"She was NOT CRAZY!"

"She shot the guy. Look these Koreans' are mean. They'd shoot their own mother for a dollar. Like I said, they're into all sorts of stuff. They sell plans and designs to both military and industrialist alike. I'd guess you call them 'diverse unscrupulous bastards'. They didn't want anything to do with me unless I got the card back. They didn't want it traced back to them. And, unless, I got rid of Roche, the marine and Rose, they'd get rid of me….then you. You had the memory card. I saw you looking at it when you were in the ambulance."

Abby instinctively pushed Marley behind her, all the while not taking her eyes of the ray's finger on the trigger of his gun. "What do you intend to with us then? We don't have the card, its back at NCIS, so you may as well…"

"Shut up, let me think. I've been trying to get out of here all day. I would have been happy to just get my stuff and run. Friggin Jason called in sick, and Sharon hasn't left me alone, bugging me about the bar."

From the window, Marley could see Gibbs, Ziva, Tony and McGee arrive in the parking lot and spread out. They were quiet and coming in.

Marley pushed her way back through, and spoke to Ray."You should have told her to ring Sam"

Both Abby and Marley watched, straight faced, as Gibbs snuck into the room. Gibbs put his finger to his lips as Tony now made his way towards Ray.

"Sam? Who the hell's Sam?"

Rays' frustrated expression went blank as soon as he felt the cold barrel of Tony's gun touch his temple. "Sam I am. Hey, Ray!"

Ray looked like he was going to throw up. Marley hoped not, for Tony's sake. However, the expression on his face was priceless and the relief she felt; was enormous. As Tony and Ziva cuffed Ray, Abby and Marley catapulted themselves toward Gibbs.

"GIBBBBS."

Jethro Gibbs stood for a long moment and held on tight to two very special people. One, tall and one, small.

Within minutes Fornell and his back up arrived. Everyone went about doing what they did best. Tim had bagged the camera and went to drop it into one of the evidence boxes.

"I'll take that." said Abby. "I will bet my bottom dollar that the codec on this camera match those on the XD card."

Tony snatched the bag back and handed to McGee "Bad choice of words, Abbs. I wouldn't bet your bottom on anything. You may not be in a position to pay up."

"Now, Tony."

"My car, Abbs! How did you get the keys?" He held out his hands, and Abby dropped them into his palm.

"It's a long story Tony, and I would be more than happy to explain it to you, once we are back at the lab."

Tony laughed "Ohhhh, Abby, this better be good!"

Marley hadn't left Gibbs side, and giggled at the conversation going down between Abby and Tony.

Gibbs looked down at Marley, turned, then picked her up and stood her in front of him. He bent down to her eye level and warned "oh, so you think that is funny do you.? Well, little girl, while Abby is explaining to Tony, we are going to have a little discussion of our own."

**FREEZE FRAME - cut mid shot, profile Gibbs and Marley. Gibbs is crouched hand on knees, eyes fixed on Marley. Menacing and warning glare. Convert black and white. CUT**

**TBC Chapter 7 Acceptance.**

**A.N. I hope the plot was not disappointing. I agonised over it all, it was just getting too complicated so I just went to a KISS formula. I'm no expert in anything. I make it all up. Special thanks to Harliquinn,who beta read this for me and converted my 'Aussieism' to 'Americanism'  
**


	7. Acceptance part 1

**FREEZE FRAME **

Disclaimer: I do not own NCIS nor did I create it Donald Bellisaio and Don Mc Gill did, and a damn fine job they do too.

Warning: This chapter contains the disciplinary spanking a minor. Don't Like? Skip this chapter.

**Chapter 7 : Acceptance part 1.**

**FREEZE FRAME: Cut Close up of Gibbs Laughing. Convert Black and white .CUT**

**Fade In: SFX Elevator Music. The Bull Pen. Mid shot, Closed elevator doors.**

**The elevator pings and opens. NCIS workers exit and disperse. Before the doors close, we see Abby and Marley, each standing in a back corner. The doors close without them disembarking. Abby turns to Marley, and gives her a reassuring smile.**

"Abby are we in big trouble?"

Abby spoke from the corner of her mouth. "Shhhh, I don't think we're supposed to talk."

"But, who will know?"

"Gibbs will know!"

"You think, maybe, he's got a hidden camera in here?"

"Yeah, and a terabyte of footage."

"He's really mad at me Abbs"

"Yeah, well, so am I. Taking off like that? Then in the office with Ray, I thought you were going to get yourself killed."

"But, we caught the bad guy, that's what matters now!"

"Gibbs won't see it that way."

"I didn't mean to get you in to trouble too. Tony looked pretty pissed at you."

"Don't worry about him; his bark is worse than his bite."

"Is Gibbs's?"

"Nope!"

"You have connections, Abbs. You have clout as far as Gibbs goes. Can't you talk to him for me? "

"No way, he's just as mad at me."

"What about the rest of the team?"

"They're really going to be enjoying this; I hardly ever get into trouble. They're going to get mileage out of this for ages. I'd like to stay clear of Ducky too, but I promised I'd help him with something special. I hope we're not in here for too much longer. It's embarrassing. Everybody knows we're in trouble with Gibbs."

"Is Sister Mary Ellen mad at you too?"

"Are you kidding? She's beside herself with excitement, imagining her scooter leading a high speed chase."

"It was hardly high speed; I hope you didn't tell Gibbs that."

"Well, I did exaggerate a little."

"Great! Maybe, you could get Sister Mary Ellen to say a prayer?"

"With Gibbs on the war path? A Novena wouldn't help."

'Ping!' The elevator doors opened.

"Shit!" They said, and jumped in unison.

Standing on the other side of the doors was a very straight faced Jethro Gibbs and a smirking Tony DiNozzo.

"Out!" said Gibbs

Abby and Marley decided to stand back to back and shuffle in unison towards, and in between, the two men. The two mismatched girls looked like Rocky and Bullwinkle attempting to tango past threatening time bombs. Marley stopped dead as Abby did. DiNozzo put his hand on Abby's shoulder.

"Not you, Abbs. You and I need to have a little talk."

"But, but, Tony, Gibbs? I've got to got something really important to do. I promised Ducky!"

Gibbs leaned close to Abby's ear and whispered. Abby's eyes went wide and without a word, Rocky and Bullwinkle started to tango back. It took Marley a couple of seconds to realize that she had stopped moving and Abby hadn't. A firm hand clamped to her arm encouraged her forward while the other hand landed a sharp slap to her backside.

"Conference room, now!" barked Gibbs.

"Boss, permission to use your office?"

"Granted!"

Tony laughed and turned as he entered the elevator. He hit the button that closed the double doors. Gibbs looked up at the elevator's meter and watched the descending floor numbers light up. Then he heard the familiar clunk of the brakes stopping the elevator's movement. "One down, one to go," he mumbled as he headed off to the conference room.

**CAConference room. Marley is sitting on the sofa at the end of the room.**

Gibbs walked into the conference room and went and sat down on the coffee table opposite Marley. The little girl sat looking down at her fidgeting fingers, pausing to bite the last, lone long finger nail.

"Don't do that. What are you so nervous about?"

"I don't know."

Gibbs raised an eyebrow.

"Maybe because you promised to bust my tail if I ever hurt one of your agents or I put myself in danger."

"Yes, well. I don't break promises without a good reason, but I don't recall you hurting one of my agents."

"I nearly got Abby killed."

Gibbs sighed and rubbed his forehead. He rested his arms on his knees and moved into Marley's personal space.

"No Abby nearly got Abby killed. You are not responsible for other people's bad choices or unforeseeable bad luck. Abby's a big girl, and yes, impetuous at times, a genius at others, but she is also very loyal and caring. She went after you because she was worried about you. In some ways if she hadn't been there with you, it could have been a lot worse. You were lucky, and she didn't get hurt."

"And now Tony's mad at her."

"Not that mad. Like all of us, he was worried. He won't hurt her. They're like brother and sister, and what's between them stays between them."

"So you're not going to bust my tail for that."

"No, and I'm hoping that you have a very good reason for not listening to me or Abby, for stealing a vehicle, driving down busy streets to a night club, where a murdering son of a… held you at gunpoint." Gibbs stayed calm, while listing Marley's dangerous actions. His fluent monologue was clear, yet very unnerving. Marley could understand why most criminals he interrogated would easily confess to their crimes.

"I don't have a good reason. I just wanted to know why! I guess I am just a stupid little kid."

"Stupid, no. Little kid, yes. Acts like a kid, gets treated like a kid." With that Gibbs sat up and took Marley by the arm. He put her over his knee and applied twelve very sharp smacks to her bottom. Marley didn't kick. However, her stoic resolve didn't smother the yelp that came after each and every swat. Gibbs stopped. Still lying across his knees, Marley thought that, considering Gibbs earlier threat, the spanking of her life had not been that bad. But, that was not to be the case.

"Those twelve swats were for each one of the years you took off my life. The next twelve, little lady, will equal one for every year of your life."

Marley couldn't be sure, but the next twelve smacks stung even more. This time her first yelp merged and cross faded into one long and tearful "OWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW."

Once again Gibbs stopped. Marley wasn't getting her hopes up this time, so didn't move. She was trying to think what the next volley of swats could possibly be for.

Gibbs raised his hand, higher this time, and landed one more, very hard, stinging, SMACK!

That was it. He stood Marley up in front of him. He tried to settle the jumping, butt rubbing, little girl.

"JEEEZSZSHHHH."

Gibbs grabbed her hands. "Uh uh. It's supposed to sting, so next time you'll remember."

"OWWWWW. Okay, okay I get it. I'm 12 and 12 smacks, but what was that LAST ONE FOR?"

"One to grow."

"But that's for birthday candles, Gibbs."

"Yep. Happy birthday! I'm just making sure that you're gonna be around for your next one."

"Okay, but next time can I just have cake!"

**FREEZE FRAME: Cut Close up of Gibbs Laughing. Convert Black and white .CUT**

**TBC Chapter 8: Despair **

**A.N I decided to shorten this chapter. It was getting too long. These are still some loose ends to tie up, and I didn't want it to drag. Once again, a big thank you to Harliquinn, for helping me out.  
**


	8. Despair

**FREEZE FRAME **

Disclaimer: I do not own NCIS nor did I create it Donald Bellisaio and Don Mc Gill did, and a damn fine job they do too.

A.N. Another great big thank you to Harliquinn, for the great suggestions. I had a couple of options for this chapter. Its gets a bit heavy, and it needed some comedy relief.

**Chapter 8: Despair**

**FREEZE FRAME **: **CA. Mid shot , Fornell and Ziva , centre – Sly smirk on both faces . Looking at each other. **

**CA Bull Pen**

Gibbs led Marley into the bull pen. McGee was sitting at his computer typing up statements and collating evidence documents.

"McGee. Where are we up to?"

"Boss. Okay first, Ms Riggs has called in and is on her way. She said to tell you she has what she needs, and will sort things out when she gets here. Second, Fornell is in Interrogation Room 1 with Isles. He's waiting for you. And thirdly, most of the statements are ready to go. I just need to finish up Abby's, then get Marley's, then transcribe the interrogation of Isles."

"Tony, Ziva and, Abby. Where are they?"

"Tony and Ziva are in the viewing room for Interrogation Room 1. Abbs is in the morgue."

Marley turned on Gibbs. "She's dead? You said he wouldn't hurt her!"

If it hadn't been so humorous, Gibbs would have frowned at Marley's outburst. The youngster also revealed a little bit of an attitude, which he supposed in some ways was a good sign.

McGee corrected her misconception.

"No, Abby is not dead. She's helping Ducky with something. Well, she wasn't dead when she stomped out of the lift a little red in the face, maybe, but alive and kicking."

"I'm sure her face wasn't the only part of her anatomy that was a little red."

McGee smirked at Gibbs. Marley was just relieved that her friend Bullwinkle was still with them.

"See, she's fine. You're fine, right? So Abbs is fine." He turned to McGee, "get Marley's statement."

"Marley, sit down next to McGee and he'll type up your statement. You need to tell him everything that happened in Ray's office. Then get some rest."

"Okay, but I think I'll stand for a while. I concentrate better standing."

"Well, concentrating is pretty important. But Marley stay here. No going off anywhere. Understand."

Gibbs headed for the interrogation room.

McGee looked at Marley. "Okay, Marley, I just need to finish Abby's report here, and then we will get started on your statement."

Just then Abby appeared from the elevator.

"Here, McGee. Some more results for you." Abby handed Mc Gee a memory stick.

Marley ran to Abby. "Abbs, you're okay."

"Of course I'm okay."

"What happened? You know, what did Tony…?"

"Nothing, we're cool. Hey, why don't we go get something to eat from the cafeteria? That's okay isn't it, McGee?

"Sure, but don't be too long. Marley has to give me her statement."

Abby and Marley headed off to the cafeteria.

**CA Cafeteria. **

Abby bought over a tray with sandwiches and a juice for Marley.

"Here you better eat something."

"Yeah, okay. But…"

"But, what? "

"I'm sorry I got you into trouble with Tony. I know you're good friends."

"A bit more than that."

"Really?"

"No, no, not like that."

"Look, we're all like a family here. So that means, when all is said and done, we're forgiven."

"And what's between you, each other, stay's between you."

"Yeah, unless we choose to share."

"I don't need to know any more, Abby. I'm just glad you're okay, and that things are okay between you and Tony."

"Hey yeah, things are okie dokie. I had to do some 'wheelin and dealin', but we could all end up having a bit of fun. We just have to come up with a good plan."

"Wheelin and dealin? I don't understand."

"Well, when Tony got into the elevator….

_**Flashback **_

**Dissolve in Interior/ Elevator. Tony's and Abby's discussion.**

Tony stood facing the doors as the elevator started its descent. Abby stood in the opposite back corner and watched nervously. Tony hit the stop button.

"Shit, this is not good."

Tony stepped towards the middle of the elevator, enjoying every minute of playing Gibbs's game with Abby. Abby didn't move.

"Abigail, you're supposed to move here, when the elevator stops." He pointed to the spot in the center of the small confined space… the one right next to him.

"Well, Tony, they are Gibbs's rules, and you're not Gibbs. Besides I haven't had 'time out' in the elevator before."

"Yes, so we are all well aware. But as you so clearly put it, I'm not Gibbs. So you are here. And you will find it difficult to sweet talk your way out of here. You will also find it difficult to amuse and distract me from my task at hand by rattling out interesting stories and trivia that your enormous lateral brain comes up with."

"But, Tony, you should at least let me explain."

"What do you need to explain, Abby?"

"Why I took your car."

"No, you don't need to explain that. Think again"

"Okay, why I had a spare set of your keys."

"Yes. Explain."

"Well, when Chip, you remember him right?"

"Yes, the evil deformed assistant that you never wanted."

"Good, remember that…the evil part. When he offered to move your car, you know when he wanted to plant evidence; he also took an impression of your keys and had a spare cut."

"Well, Abigail, why weren't they handed in with all the other evidence?"

"Because, Tony, I didn't know they existed. The jerk admitted to everything, but he didn't say he made a copy of your keys. I wasn't looking for them at the time. I found them after we had bagged and tagged everything. He got convicted, and you were set free. Which was, like, thank goodness, because it wasn't looking real good for a while there, Tony. We were all really worried. But I was determined, Tony. Determined, Tony, to save you, you know, to save your butt. And I only think that it would be fair if you at least returned the favor."

"Oh, but I have, from Gibbs, twice on this one!"

"Twice?"

"Yes. Firstly for nearly getting yourself killed by following Marley, and secondly, for withholding evidence. Real no, no's in Gibbs book, Abbs."

"Tony that's so, not fair."

"My car, Abbs!"

Abby fidgeted nervously with her studded wrist bands. Tony was Mr funny guy. He was also one of their bravest. He could outsmart the most hardened of criminals with his flippant wise cracking comments. But today he was in protective smart ass brother mode, and enjoying every bit of making Abby squirm.

"What are you going to do?"

"What do you think I'm going to do?"

Realization dawned on Abby's face. "Tony, you are so not going to spank me!"

Tony grabbed Abby and wrapped his arm around her waist.

"I'll tell Gibbs!" she warned

Tony then tucked her under one arm and positioned her on his hip. This gave him the perfect striking distance to his ideal target.

"Ah, but I have his blessing."

Abby yelped as Tony swatted her red checked clad bottom. You will, smack, not take, smack , smack, my car without permission, smack, smack, smack, and not put yourself in danger, no, smack, matter, smack, what, smack."

"Owwww. Tony, wait. I'll make you a deal."

"No deals!"

"But, I've got others."

"Other what?"

"Keys, copies of other keys"

"Mine?"

"No"

"Whose?"

"Ziva's"

"Ziva's Mini Cooper? Okay, that's good. We could pick it up and put in the director's office."

Tony still had Abby positioned in striking distance, but she could feel his fortitude weakening.

"….and McGee's Porsche. Tony, I have spare keys to McGee's Porsche."

Tony immediately stood her on her feet. "Give" he said, as he held out his palm.

"I don't have them here. They are well hidden. I will give them to you on one condition."

"What's that?"

"That, whatever you have planned, you let me in on it."

"It could get ugly."

"I'm game."

"Good. Now I hope you've learned your lesson."

_**End Flash back**_

"Gee, Abbs doesn't sound like fun."

"Well, the swats weren't, but the pranks will more than make up for those. And….It could have been worse. It could have been Gibbs doing the swatting."

"Yeah, well thanks for the warning on that one. I guess we both acted a bit like stupid kids."

"Not stupid. I'm not stupid and neither are you. Don't let Gibbs hear you say that. That's one of his rules"

"He's gotta a few of them. Hey?...Do you think Tony will let me in on the prank?"

"I'm sure he will. Anyway, you better get back to the bull pen, and I've to get back to the lab."

"Okay. Abby?...Um. Can I come visit again later?"

"Sure thing. There are plans to be made."

Abby headed back to her lab, while Marley took the elevator back to the bull pen.

**CA Bull Pen**

Marley could just see Tim's head, bobbing furiously away, while he typed at his computer. She quietly passed around the back of his work station and headed down the passage towards the interrogation rooms and the viewing rooms attached.

Marley approached the viewing room for Interrogation 1 and slipped quietly through the door. Tony and Ziva stood close to the two way mirror. She could see Gibbs and Fornell's backs, and the smug face of Ray Isles, as they interrogated him.

"Where does this guy get on" said Ziva. "Thinking he can bargain for leniency."

"You mean, get off." Corrected Tony. "Well, I suppose he thinks that if he gives the FBI the Koreans, he may be able to get some immunity on the espionage, and reduce the penalty on the murder charges."

"Knowing Fornell and Gibbs, he's not got a chance in the well."

Tony just smiled. "No, you're right. But Fornell doesn't want to lose these Koreans. They've been working on this case for months. They know this group is involved in arms dealing, industrial espionage and murder."

"Well, let's just watch then."

"Yeah, love a good Gibbs and Fornell show."

At that moment Gibbs could be seen slamming the table and targeting that famous stare, no more than an inch away from Isles's face.

"Tobias, I know this is your case, but seeing as Mr Isles here has committed the murder of a marine and attempted to sell military secrets to arm dealers, I can safely say keeping him detained without council as a suspected terrorist may convince him that there will be NO bargaining. We do not need his confession on the murders, we have witnesses."

Fornell spoke to Gibbs, but took the same stance as Gibbs on the opposite corner of the table.

"No Gibbs. High security incarceration is too good for this guy. I'm also sure that he won't like spending the months in solitary, while you haphazardly put together your case."

"We don't do haphazard, we do detail. But, we do take our time to get it right."

Both Fornell and Gibbs bored their gaze into the eyes of Ray Isles, as they continued to run the commentary between just them.

"Well, you might be right then, Gibbs. I mean, it would be irresponsible of us to detain him, over this long weekend at least. You know skeletal staff means minimum security. You never know what sort of information gets leaked. Mr. Isles here wouldn't be safe. I'd even go far as to say, his life may be at risk."

Ray was starting to sweat profusely.

"Yeah, well my life's not the only one at risk. Do you think they're gonna let that kid slide or that Goth agent of yours."

Gibbs felt like slamming his forehead against the smug little low life moron that sat in front of him. Instead he fed the guys fear.

"No, no you're right, Fornell. It's your case, always been your case. I think you should take him for the weekend at least. Like you said we've got a lot of evidence to put together. We should have all the evidence by Tuesday. We know the bullets that killed Petty Officer Williams and Rose Hanson, as well as your man Roche, were from his gun. You have the evidence from Roche and his connection to this Korean mob. After all, it was mainly industrial espionage. The girls will stay in NCIS custody until Tuesday. And you can take this low life with you."

Isles panicked. If he couldn't make a deal and get some sort of protection he was more or less the walking dead.

"These guys will get to me. Once I've gone they won't give a hoot about the kid or other witnesses. Come on I can give you these guys."

Fornell went in for the kill. "Why, thanks Gibbs, that's right cooperative of you. Besides, if they do attempt to hit Isles here we might get lucky and catch them. Sort of be like killing two birds with one stone."

"LOOK!" yelled Isles. "It's not like I meant to kill anyone. Mine weren't the only bullets found on the Williams kid and Rose. I mean the card has lots of stuff on it they want. You probably just haven't found it all. You really need to get these guys … they're bad…. I can help you .You just have to protect me. Give me a break for Christ sake! I didn't plan to kill anyone. It was just self preservation. Crazy Rose was just in the wrong place at the wrong time. She shot Williams first. If I hadn't shot her, she still probably would have ended up dead. The kid's probably better off without her anyway."

Ziva was seething. Marley was distressed. Without thinking she charged at the two- way glass in front of her and slammed her fists against it. "You bastard" she screamed.

Tony grabbed Marley and picked her up. "Whoa, Whoa, Whoa."

Marley continued to kick her legs, constantly making contact with the large pane of glass. Gibbs and Fornell became aware of the ruckus behind the mirror when they heard the thumping and saw the large window flex slightly. Marley's anger and struggle only continued to escalate. With one final kick the mirror cracked and sent shards of thick class smashing to the floor. In front of Gibbs and Fornell was now the image of Tony and Ziva trying to contain a frenzied and distraught 12 year old.

Marley again deployed her drop, slip and kick method of escape and crawled under Tony's legs to get to the door. She headed around the corner to the interrogation room and went to barge through. At the same time Gibbs opened the door. Marley bowled over backwards and into the passageway.

Tony and Ziva were there in seconds. Tony tried again to pick up a kicking and punching Marley. Gibbs tried to intervene but was either kicked or slapped away. Marley wasn't listening. She was just yelling and growling.

"Marley! Stop it." Barked Gibbs, trying to grab her swinging arms.

"Watch it, Boss, she bites."

Marley arched her back and bucked again. Tony lost his hold once more as she dropped to the ground and kicked out towards Tony's groin. DiNozzo's hand immediately cupped his credentials, while Gibbs tried to grab Marley's hands. Tony managed to grab one foot with his spare hand.

"Forget the family jewels DiNozzo. Grab both her legs. I've got her hands."

Marley alternated her kicks and wriggled her wrist. She managed to slide her hands down into the sleeves of her windbreaker. Tony was still trying to grab her other leg while keeping a firm grip on the leg of Marley's track pants.

"Trying Boss. She's so damn slippery. It's like trying to put an octopus in a string bag"

Marley gave one last buck and kick, which sent Tony backward taking her pants with him. The rebound sent Gibbs the other way clutching only Marley's pullover.

Marley landed on the ground between them. Gibbs wasted no time. He threw the pullover at Tobias and Ziva, who had been standing at the door, watching two highly trained NCIS agents out maneuvered by a small girl. Gibbs scooped Marley up and threw her over his shoulder.

Marley had not lost any of her resolve. She was past logic, past control, past preservation and past embarrassment. She was now lying over Gibbs shoulder wearing only a t shirt, her underwear and a pair of odd socks. As Gibbs stormed off to the second interrogation room, Marley continued to punch Gibbs on the back.

"Stop this. Stop this now!" he smacked her bottom twice, before entering the room and sitting on a chair. He put her down and stood her in front of him. Without a word Gibbs pulled her into his arms and held her tight. Marley's entire body heaved and vibrated with heavy uncontrollable sobs.

"Let go," he whispered, while rubbing soothing circles on her back.

"She wasn't…wasn't crazy, Gibbs."

"I know."

"I'm not…better…off …without….her. I want… want, him to go away. If he goes...away…Rose will come back."

"We'll make him go away. We can make a lot of bad guys go away. But that doesn't bring the people we love back. Rose can't come back Marley."

Marley sank her head into Gibbs chest and sobbed and sobbed. Gibbs picked her up and sat her on his lap and let her cry.

After a while, Marley's sobs gave way to a huge exhausted sigh. Gibbs picked her up and went back down the passage way. DiNozzo was standing there with Marley's clothes.

"Take her back to the conference room. She needs to rest."

"Come on princess."

"No, Tony. I want to stay with Gibbs."

Marley couldn't physically protest, and Gibbs easily transferred the exhausted little girl to Tony's arms. He lifted her to his shoulder and let her cradle his neck.

"What are you gonna do, boss?"

"Finish with Isles. I'm gonna let Fornell kill two birds with one stone" Gibbs paused again before he entered the interrogation room.

"And Tony, get Ducky up there to check Marley out. Take Ziva with you. Where is Ziva?"

Tony nodded toward the interrogation room. Gibbs entered, and saw Isles sitting at the table mopping up a bloody nose. Gibbs looked at Fornell, then at Ziva.

"What happened?" he asked.

"He slipped!" they answered.

**FREEZE FRAME: CA. Mid shot , Fornell and Ziva , centre – Sly smirk on both faces . Looking at each other.**

**TBC Chapter 9 Acceptance part 2**

**A.N . I hope I got this chapter right. There were quite a few aussie-isms. Thanks Harliquinn for putting me right. Thanks for all the great reviews too.  
**


	9. Acceptance part 2

**FREEZE FRAME **

Disclaimer: I do not own NCIS nor did I create it Donald Bellisaio and Don Mc Gill did, and a damn fine job they do too.

No warnings this chapter, well I suppose it could be funnier, sorry.

A.N Another really big thankyou to Harliquinn for the support and editing. My puncuation and "aussisms/spelling" would drive anyone nuts.

**Chapter 9 **

**Acceptance part 2**

**FREEZE FRAME: CA Xclose up of Gillian's hands covering a photograph of three "twenty" something girls, her hands cover the girls topless pose, holding up a banner with the slogan.…Arial shot. Convert Black and White. CUT**

**CA Conference room**

Tony carried Marley over to the sofa and laid her down. Ziva offered him the throw rug and he bent down and tucked it around her. Marley was exhausted. She still trembled and every now and again hiccupped, taking a big breath after each one. Tony pushed the coffee table out of the way and squatted down beside her. He rubbed her back, trying to sooth and warm the small shivering form.

"Okay, Squid Girl, let's get you warm."

"Tony?"

"Yeah?"

"I'm….."

"No, no, you know the rule."

"I broke the mirror."

"Yeah, good, hey, should bring some bad luck to Ray."

"Already did," said Ziva

"Good. I'm not sorry then. Gibbs said no matter what happens to him, it won't bring Mom back. I know that, but I still hope he gets what he deserves."

Ziva squatted next to Tony as they spoke to a very sleepy Marley. "He will. Gibbs and Fornell and all of us, will make sure of that."

"There's still plenty of work to do now, Scooby Doo."

"Never watch cartoons much."

"You're kidding right. Scooby Doo it's a classic."

Marley giggled. "Only joking. So the Scooby team solves the case and saves the day."

"Yeah, except it was the greedy barman and not the greedy real estate developer."

Ziva had no idea what they were talking about. But Marley was beginning to relax, which was all that mattered. "Hey, am I one of the Scoopy team?" she asked.

Both Marley and Tony rolled their eyes at Ziva's gaffe. Laughing and giving each other a nod, they answered in unison.

"Daphne."

"The pretty one…..Except your smarter." Tony diplomatically added

"And much braver." said Marley.

"So who is Tony?"

"Shaggy."

"Freddie."

"Maybe both," giggled Marley. "Abby's Velma. And Tim's…"

"Tim should be Shaggy. Shaggy's real name is Norville. A McGeek name, if I ever heard one."

"No, Tim's Scooby, he's the smartest, you just can't understand him."

Tony laughed. He stopped rubbing Markey's back and tussled her short wavy hair. He brushed a stray brown curl from her face, revealing a smile and drooping eyelids.

"Hey, kid, you've just given me an idea."

"Tony, what are you talking about?"

Just then Ducky walked through the door carrying a medical kit. "Whatever it is stop talking Tony and let the child get some rest. Though, first I need to examine Marley. Out!"

"Roo rot it Ucky. I've got something important to do anyway, so I'll leave you to it."

"Me too." said Daph...I mean Ziva.

Ducky pointed to a chair. "No Ziva, Gibbs wants you to stay. Why don't you have a seat and relax."

"To tell you the truth, Ducky, I would like that very much."

"Good." Ducky went over and checked the now sleeping Marley. The child did not stir as he gently checked her pulse and listened to her breathing. He then examined her hands, legs and abdomen for any cuts and bruises. Except for a couple carpet burns on her knees, she was free of any significant physical injuries.

"Is she alright, Ducky? She was pretty distraught down there."

"I'm not surprised. Marley has tended, to some degree, to restrain her emotions through most of this ordeal. I'm really quite amazed at the child's constitution. In a matter of 72 hours or more she has gone from being a grieving parent to a grieving child. And while her distraught state must have been heart wrenching to watch, it was probably a very good thing…an outpouring of her feelings of anger and despair."

"Well, Gibbs has helped her a great deal. It amazes me that he can do that type of stuff."

"It doesn't amaze you at all. You know firsthand what Gibbs is capable of. He also has a pretty good idea of what it's like for a parent to lose a child."

"I guess that's why he was so insistent that she become the child. But I don't know if it's any easier losing a parent, whether they die or…."

"No. Losing someone that you loved or trusted or made you feel safe is hard. But sometimes we find those feeling again in others. Surrogate protectors, so to speak. They can be paternal relationships or spousal. If you're lucky, both. But, for a parent, the child can never be replaced. Ones feelings of guilt for failing them somehow and even remorse can be crippling; or we move forward carrying memories of both laughter and tears."

"Marley was lucky to have found Gibbs. I guess we all are."

"That we are. But, you underestimate your own contribution, to both Gibbs and Marley."

"Gibbs owes me nothing. And Marley, well, whether I had good reason, good training or however the way one may justify it, I shot her mother in front of her."

"Do you think you murdered her?"

"I did not murder her, but I… my bullet took her life."

"There were many things that 'took' the life that Rose probably deserved. But, Petty Officer Williams and Ray Isles were responsible for her murder and her death… Do you think Marley blames you?"

"No I don't think she does. That doesn't matter."

"It does. So, you need to believe this. She doesn't blame you. I've seen her look at you with awe and admiration. She sees you as tough and beautiful. You are small, but can hold your own. You do what has to be done even though you would prefer not to have to do it."

Ziva looked at the face of a peaceful looking little girl sleeping on the sofa. "Very much like Marley."

"Very much like Marley, for the past 6 or so years anyway."

"Thank you, Ducky."

"You're very welcome. Now, when Marley wakes up I want you to make sure she drinks this. If there are any problems call me." Ducky put a glass of water and a sachet of electrolytes on the table.

"But, shouldn't you have a talk with her."

"No, not now anyway. Sleep is what she needs right now. Both of you are doing fine."

Ducky packed up his kit and left the room. Ziva bent down and re- tucked some of the blanket around Marley. She then placed a gentle kiss on Marley's forehead. Marley stirred and outstretched her arm taking Ziva into a hug. For fear of disturbing the sleeping child, she simply crawled in under the blanket with her and slept.

**CA Director Vance's Office**

**Gibbs is sitting opposite Vance. There are three Manilla folders on the desk, labeled: Marley Rose Hanson, Nicolas Brett Hanson and Gillian Marie Riggs. **

"Well, Jethro I'm sure you know what you're doing. We'll cover all expenses, though don't go overboard."

"I'm a man of simple tastes, Vance, it shouldn't be an issue."

"It's not really. To tell you the truth, we all feel a little better knowing that Marley can't be drawn into this latest turn of events."

"I appreciate you pulling a few strings on this Leon. Judge Knight will accept Marley's statement regarding Fornell's case on Isles. The evidence and Abby's testimony should be enough for a conviction. If need be, Marley can testify through a video link."

"Fornell does a great job. I'm sure he'll have everything he needs from Ray Isles by the end of the weekend. Then neither Abby nor Marley will be at risk." Said Vance

"Well, not by Isles or the Koreans, maybe. But this new situation with Marley's uncle concerns me. I want her in our custody especially. Until at least we can ascertain what the real dangers are."

"Officially Nicolas Hanson is classified as missing in action. He has made no official contact with intelligence or the other undercover operatives working this case. Of course if his cover has been blown, he is either dead or in hiding or worse case scenario, being held prisoner."

"Until we know for sure the best course of action, for both national security and Marley, would be to put this latest plan in place."

"Well, if Miss Riggs agrees to the changes, I think your idea is the best option."

"I think she will agree. Gillian trusts us."

Vance raised his eyebrows at Gibbs familiar use of Miss Riggs first name."Gillian?"

"Miss Riggs trusts us. Marley's welfare has always been a priority. I think it's also important that she is bought up to scratch on everything."

"Everything to a point. Remember, this is still a highly confidential matter."

"To a point, yes. That's the other reason I want Miss Riggs with us over the weekend. She's a big part of Marley's life now. And I think she will like what I have planned for weekend."

Vance smirked. "I'm sure she will." _Maybe Fornell isn't the only one that can kill two birds with one stone._

Gibbs actually blushed. Vance didn't notice the flicker in Gibbs eye when the intercom buzzed and Cynthia announced Miss Riggs arrival. Vance and Jethro stood as Gillian entered the room.

"How do you do Miss Riggs? Please have a seat."

"Thank you, Director Vance."

"Well, I believe congratulations are in order."

Gillian laughed. "That's very nice, director. Actually I do feel rather privileged. I just hope Marley will be happy with me and the arrangements."

"I'm sure she will." Vance gave Gibbs another smirk, took out a fresh toothpick and put in his mouth. "However, there are a few changes and new circumstances that you need to know about before you agree to full custody of Marley."

"Oh, Judge Knight indicated that there were no problems. He has granted me full custody, with the understanding that should her Uncle Nicolas return; custody will be transferred to him, if he wishes."

"What about the group house?" Asked Gibbs

"Marley will live with me and attend the international school full time. As for the house, I am still employed as a councilor and supervisor, so those times I'm on duty she will be there as well. So, except for the fact she won't be living in the unit with Rose, things will be pretty much be the same… probably a little less chaotic if anything. This will be very good for her."

"That's good news, and half the problem solved."

"Half?"

Vance stepped in. "Well, yes, Miss Riggs. There have been some developments that may put Marley's future safety at risk, and well, therefore, we have implemented some restrictions to your custodial rights."

Gibbs frowned. "Restrictions' isn't quite the right term here, Leon. Stop beating around the bush."

"Well, Gibbs, why don't you fill Miss Riggs in." _Riggs, Gibbs you've got to be joking._

"Okay. Firstly, Marley's files are going to be sealed until she's twenty one or her uncle returns."

"Why?" Gillian snapped.

Gibbs snapped back, "because."

Vance intervened. "I'm sorry Miss Riggs, but you can't be privy to certain information."

Gibbs looked at Vance and shook his head. "Because it is in Marley's best interest. Children's Services have already sent over Marley's files. They are to be sealed and kept here at NCIS with no access without the highest security clearance."

"Wow. This is a bit of overkill isn't it? I mean, I was under the belief that Ray Isles was in custody and any threat there was now minimal."

"We are hoping by Tuesday there will be no immediate threat at all. But after some recent developments in another case, Marley's welfare is still of great concern for us," explained Vance.

_I wish these people would stop dancing around here_. "Right then. So, I can only presume that this has something to do with her uncle and his Naval Intelligence work."

"What makes you presume that, Miss Riggs?"

Vance's' suspicious and ominous response earned him a terse glare from Gibbs. _Because she's not only beautiful, but smart too_, he thought.

However, Gillian wasn't fazed. "Because you have three files on your desk... one with Marley's name on it and one with Nickolas Hanson written on it with a big red stamp saying confidential Navel Intelligence. The third one, I can't see whose name is on it, though I'm not beyond an educated guess."

Gibbs laughed and it was Vance's turn to blush. "Miss Riggs have you ever met Nicolas Hanson or corresponded with him?"

"No, but Marley has shown me his letters and family photographs. He's quite good looking; dark like Marley, olive complexion and beautiful brown eyes."

"Oh, you like brown eyes," commented Gibbs

"No, actually I'm rather partial to blue eyes. Didn't it have that bit of information in my file?"

Vance was watching the conversation between these two with great interest. As each of them spoke, the toothpick he was chewing on was transferred from one corner of his mouth to the other corner. It followed the volley of flirtatious quips that Gibbs and Gillian bounced at each other.

"Haven't read your file."

"Really? So I'm not perceived as a security threat, then Jethro."

"No, Gillian, I trust you. I don't need to read your file or have you investigated. I'm well known for my "gut " feelings about things and people. And my gut is very rarely wrong."

"Nor is mine." She smiled.

Vance coughed to get their attention. "You were getting to the point, Gibbs."

"Yes, Jethro, please continue. I presume you want me to do something to ensure Marley's safety and a security issue that is connected to her uncle. Some details would be helpful."

"Right. We would like Marley to take your surname. Judge Knight has amended the custody order and documents that would allow you to officially adopt Marley. The condition still stands regarding Marley's custody should her uncle safely return, but until then as far as anybody else is concerned, including Children's Services, schools and Social Security, Marley has been adopted and her files sealed."

"So you're putting her in Witness Protection?"

"No. If she was put into Witness Protection she would be given a whole new identity, family, schools and home. I can't see that being beneficial to her at all, even though it might be safer."

"You're right. Marley has a long way to go and it is really best for her to be with the people she trusts."

"And loves," said Gibbs

"Thank you, Jethro. That was really very nice. I love her too, so I don't have any problem with this at all. I'll speak to Marley. She may not really like the idea of changing her name, but she's a pretty cluey kid and if it's still sort of temporary for her she may be fine with it."

"I think she will be just happy to be able to go on with her schooling and be with those in your Program."

Vance took the toothpick from his mouth and smiled. "Well, this has turned out. We all need to sign these papers, Gibbs you'll witness them, then Miss Riggs, come Tuesday you and Marley can start your new life together."

"So, does that mean I won't be able to take Marley home until Tuesday?"

"Yep," answered Gibbs. "She and Abby will stay in our custody until then, under my protection."

"That's a little disappointing. I have taken tomorrow off work and was hoping to get her settled over this long weekend."

Vance pulled out Gillian's file. "Miss Riggs, while Gibbs has complete faith in his gut feeling, we still had you officially checked out. So…"

Gibbs interrupted and threw Vance a severe frown. "So, what he's trying to say, Gillian, is that you are not a security risk and we..NCIS feels that it would be beneficial for Marley if you actually spent the weekend with us. Of course your movements won't be restricted, like Marley's and Abby's, but it's important that nobody else knows of our whereabouts or the special circumstances of Marley's case."

"That shouldn't be too much of an issue. Very few people know that I was applying for custody of Marley. The kids at the home know Marley is safe. Zach probably knows a little more than Josh and Rye knows nothing. She's new to the program and hasn't met Marley yet."

"What about your work colleagues?"

"The boss knows I'm applying for custody of a child. And, the only other person I've told is Melissa. She's my absolute closet friend and confidant. Though she may have told Chelsea. I've known them both for years, plus they're teachers, they know how to keep secrets. Though knowing Chelsea and Melissa they'll be planning some sort of welcome party. Hmm… maybe I better call them."

Vance opened up Gillian's file. "So that would be… Melissa Quinn and Chelsea Gillard."

"What? You have information on them in my file?"

"No, not a lot; just this photograph of the three of you, taken some time in the 80's at a Greenpeace march. Effective slogan, Miss Riggs, though I doubt many people would have been looking at the art work on your banner."

Vance was loving this. Gillian paled and Gibbs smirked as he reached for the photograph Vance had in his hands.

"Oh, a photograph. Maybe, I should have read your file."

"Oh, no, you don't!"

**FREEZE FRAME: CA Xclose up of Gillian's hand covering a photograph of three "twenty" something girls, her hands cover the girls topless pose, holding up a banner with the slogan: LET MOTHER NATURE DECIDE. Man ordained extinction is an atrocity. Arial shot. Convert Black and White. CUT**

TBC

Chapter 10: A Rose Tattoo

A.N. Thanks for all the reviews. A reward for some of you… cameos. More to come. I hope the plot hasn't become too confusing. I'm just dropping some anchors for sequel storylines.


	10. A Rose tattoo

**FREEZE FRAME **

**Chapter 10**

**Disclaimers: Same as before **

**Warnings: none**

**A.N. Thanks for all the story alerts, there could be more reviews, though. A very big thank you to those who have. The next two chapters I've posted together. They will end this Episode. Keep a look out for the sequels, FREEZE FRAME 2 & FREEZE FRAME 3. Maybe not very creative titles, but I like the title and format of the freeze frame. Do You?**

**Chapter 10 – A Rose Tattoo**

**FREEZE FRAME: Mid shot Marley hugging Gibbs, her face buried. Gibbs hand rests on her head. Tony, Ziva, Abby, McGee and Ducky can be seen in the background, their forms slightly diffused. All are smiling. With one hand, Abby dabs a handkerchief at her eyes. She holds a single white rose in the other. Convert black and white. CUT**

**CA Conference Room. **

Gillian came over to the sofa where Marley had been sleeping all afternoon. She lightly tapped her on the shoulder.

"Hey, Kiddo?"

Marley looked up and smiled. "Gillian, you're back."

Gillian wiped the hair out of Marley's face. "Yep. How are you feeling?"

Marley chewed on her bottom lip for a minute, trying to find the words to describe how she actually did feel. She felt pretty good actually, a little embarrassed, maybe, about the way she had acted down stairs, and maybe a little thirsty, but pretty good really.

"Pretty good really. Did Gibbs tell you about everything that happened?"

"He told me all about Ray Isles and the case."

"And how I had a big freak out?"

"Yep, that too, but he didn't actually put it that way. He said, Dr Mallard thought it was probably a good thing really, that you got it all out. He said you hadn't really cried."

"Yeah, well, I made up for it in one big smash hit."

Gillian tapped Marley on the nose. "Literally! So, I heard." Marley blushed and Gillian laughed. "Good. Now, if I'm right this drink is meant for you, so I think you better drink it."

"Then can I get dressed? I need to go see Abby."

Marley took a large swig of the drink Gillian had put in her hand and then hesitated to take a second when Gillian said, "Yep, but we need to talk first…..Don't look so worried its good news."

"Good, because I could sure use some**."**

"Okay, well. How would you feel if you came and lived with me permanently?"

"That would be cool, but what about uncle Nic? What if he comes back? I'm hoping they will find him, like, maybe he's just hurt and can't tell anybody who is or something."

"Whoa, settle down. Judge Knight has granted me full custody of you, but under the condition that when your uncle returns, that custody will be transferred to him. If that's what you both want, then that's what I will want."

"And, that would be alright, though, wouldn't it, because I still get to see you, right?"

"Oh, yeah, no matter what Marley, I'm gonna be around for a long time, even if it's just to make sure you don't go taking off of on any stolen pink scooters."

"Oops, you heard about that."

"Yes, and as of Tuesday you're grounded until you're sixteen!"

"Gee, between you and Gibbs, ya killing me. Besides, technically I was in NCIS custody, and Gibbs pretty much took care of the consequence thing, so you know your parental rights don't really count until Tuesday… Hey, how come Tuesday anyway?"

"Well, that's really something else we need to talk about. You are still in NCIS custody until Tuesday at least. You and Abby are witnesses against Ray Isles and to his confession. Until he confesses officially or the judge accepts your statement as an official testimony by Tuesday, Gibbs and the team are going to keep us with them."

"Us? You mean you can stay as well."

"Yep. We are all going to some safe house or place together. Like I said, Judge Knight granted me full custody of you. Well, It's more like an adoption. So that means as your parent NCIS is letting me stay with you until they think you and Abby are out of danger."

"Okay, well this is good really, cause the team are great, and Gibbs will really look after us. Everything is going to be alright. Right?"

"Sure it is." Gillian wanted to tell Marley more about the recent developments, but there were enough changes for Marley to digest. She felt that when the opportunity presented itself, she would need to discuss Marley having to change her name and the reasons for this along with the other precautions NCIS were insisting upon. "Hey, there's still more good news."

"Oh?"

"Yes, you will like this one... You get to go to school full time!"

"Oh," she replied, somewhat disappointingly. "Sounds peachy."

"And because I'm still employed as a councilor and supervisor in Alistair's group home trial, you'll be able to spend time with Zac and Josh still, at least on the nights that I'm there. Actually Zac graduates soon, but he's going to be doing his clinic hours as a supervisor, too. So you'll get to see him on staff days as well. There is also a new girl joining the group, Rye. She's fifteen. You will like her; she's a bit of a rascal, but a lot of fun."

"Gee, they didn't waste any time replacing me. Is she getting my room?"

"Marley, you're being silly. She was coming before all this happened. You would have had to share a room anyway."

"But, now it will mainly be her room, right?"

"Marley Rose, stop this. You're jealous and you have no reason to be. She has had a hard time, too. Her father is a marine and is very sick. He's in hospital, so she could do with a friend. Plus, Alistair has worked hard to keep this program going so that he can set up more homes and help more kids like you, Zac, Josh and now Rye."

"Well fine, but she better friggin not touch any of my stuff!"

Gillian swung Marley around and swatted her backside. "You will watch both your language and your temper."

"OW! Friggin isn't a swear word."

"Oh, why don't we ask Gibbs about the reference of that word in your statement then? You will be fair and friendly, Marley, and that's that!"

"Okay… So can she drive?"

"Marley!"

"Gee, you're really taking this mom thing seriously."

"Sorry, Marley, I'm here to take care of you. I care. Rye's not here to replace you and I'm not here to replace Rose."

"You can't replace Rose, Gillian. Gibbs would say that you're here to replace me." Marley smiled and then grabbed Gillian in a hug. She buried her head in the crook of her neck and let her tears quietly flow.

"Shhh. No more tears. Come on. You need to shower and change your clothes. Here, I bought you some new jeans and stuff. I'll have to go and get some more for the weekend."

"Can I come with you?"

"No, you have to stay here. But, I won't be long. Gibbs wants us all to go to the safe house together this afternoon."

"That's alright. Abby and I have something to do anyway."

**CA Bull Pen. The entire team is standing in a circle, while Gibbs fills them in on the latest turn of events. **

McGee spoke first. "So does that means we are all on duty this weekend?"

"As a matter of fact, Abby, Marley and Gillian will go over there this afternoon with me. We'll book in as a Mr. and Mrs. Stillwater with their daughter and au pair." responded a very serious Gibbs.

Tony raised his eyebrows, "Mr and Mrs? Daughter? Au pair? Hmm I wonder who's who?" Ziva slapped Tony up the back of the growled. " Only Gibbs does that, I've told you before!"

"Hey!" Gibbs crooked his finger and called Tony closer, then slapped his head.

Ziva smirked and looked at Tony. "Yes, Tony it's very obvious, Marley is the wife, Abby is the child, and Gillian the nanny."

McGee smothered his chuckle, which only made him snort. Gibbs glared at the trio.

"Well, I think it's very important for Gillian to be there, for Marley's sake at least," affirmed Ducky.

"Thank you Ducky. The fact is Abby and Marley need to be under our protection for the weekend at least. Gillian's movements won't be restricted, as she is not under protection. But Ducky's right, it is important for Marley."

"And, Nicolas Hanson?"

"Let Intelligence handle that. Our job is to keep Marley safe, probably for both their sakes. We'll go to work on that case when we're asked to."

"When we're asked to?"

"You know what I mean, Tony, so leave it for now. Marley knows nothing about his situation and until Isles and the Koreans are out of the picture, she doesn't need to know."

"Got it! Boss. So we all turn up at your place?"

"Nope!"

"Huh?"

"Not enough room. Intelligence and the FBI are funding a safe House for the weekend and well…"

"Oh, I hope it's not some dingy little one room motel room."

"No it isn't … Vance has arranged a one bedroom executive suite at the Four Seasons in Georgetown. They usually use it for visiting navel dignitaries, but we have it until Tuesday or as soon as Isles confesses and is arraigned."

"One bedroom, nice and cozy Boss." Tony leaned down to Ziva and whispered from the corner of his mouth, "the old dog."

"Di Nozzo! You got a question?"

"Ah, no, Boss."

"Well, I have," said Abby raising her hand. "Where do I sleep, Gibbs? I mean, I don't have a problem sharing a bed, you know, under desperate circumstances, but there are four of us."

"Abbs, we have an adjoining room."

"Cool, I'm cool with that, Gibbs, no offense; it's cool, like because you know I would share if I had to but…"

"Abbs. We'll sort out sleeping arrangements when we get there…. Tony and Ziva you go home get some sleep and meet us there at 1800. You'll do the night shift… McGee reserve a table for two at the Seasons restaurant. It's downstairs, so Gillian and I will be close if you need us."

"Oh, so we are babysitting, Gibbs?" asked Ziva.

"No...Yes."

"But, I don't need a babysitter, Gibbs."

"Abby, you are restricted. You will not go anywhere without one of the team."

"So why can't I go to dinner, you will be there."

"Because, you're grounded, both Marley and you, for that little escapade with the cars."

"Gibbs, one was a scooter, not a car."

"Abigail, consider yourself lucky that you got off that lightly."

McGee laughed. "I believe Tony took care of that, Boss. I'm sure Abby won't be doing anything like that again."

"Don't be too sure, Mr McSmug," whispered Abby.

"Abby, you got something to say, now?"

"Oh ah, no… I mean, oh, Gibbs." Abby ran to Gibbs and wrapped her arms around his chest in a huge bear hug. "No, it's great... I mean I didn't mean to be so selfish and insensitive. You go and have a great time. You deserve a good time and Gillian's a real nice person. I mean she must be she's going to adopt Marley and all, and she' real pretty, too. And we are all gonna have the rest of the weekend together, which is like really cool. Can we have room service? I love room service, especially the club sandwiches and the French fries, which won't be as nice as your dinner. But you know, it doesn't matter because a date's a date. And that takes precedence, even though you're probably a bit rusty…"

Everyone shouted, "ABBY!"

"McGee, I want you to head over to the hotel as soon as you can. Set up a surveillance center in the second lounge. Get some computers over there. Tap into the security cameras, I want as many views as you can get."

"On it, boss."

"Good, here's the address. It shouldn't be too hard to find."

"No worries. I've got my GPS anyway. It's top of the line."

"Sure is." whispered Tony, giving Abby a wink at the same time. "Hey, Velma?"

"Right on, Freddie."

Gibbs looked past the two conspiring adolescents to see Gillian leading Marley by the hand.

Ducky moved quickly and took Gillian's hand. "Miss Riggs, I presume? How nice to meet you."

"Please call me Gillian."

"A beautiful name," he replied as he walked back and stood next to DiNozzo and whispered out of the corner of his mouth. "Clever old dog, with impeccable taste."

Gillian turned to Gibbs. "I'm just going to get us a few things for the weekend. We'll both need fresh clothes and night wear."

Tony nudged Ziva."Night wear?"

"Stop it!" growled Ziva

"Well, if you could I'd prefer you didn't go back to either your home or Rose's flat. Here take this." Gibbs handed her a credit card. "Buy what you need for now. We can do more shopping later if need be."

Everybody gave everybody else quick glances and winks. Gibbs did not see them, but the color of his cheeks suggested that he felt their inspection. Gillian took the card and entered the elevator. All eyes were on Gibbs, as he escorted her.

Ducky bent down next to a smiling Marley. "Well my little lady, you look well and refreshed."

"I feel good, Ducky."

"I think you look good too. Marley? There's someone special that I think you a ready to see."

"You mean Rose? Can I see Rose, Ducky?"

"Yes, I think that maybe alright. But you don't have to, not if you don't really want to."

"I know she'll look different, but I want to see her. Can the team come too?"

"I think that's an excellent idea."

**CA Morgue – The Team. **

The team stood around Marley as Ducky pulled out the drawer that held Rose Louise Hanson's lifeless body. Rose lay there, her injuries concealed by well applied make-up. Her pallor was no longer grey or her eyes cold. They were closed as if she were sleeping. The make-up applied was subtle and softened the woman's features, a softness that Marley had rarely seen, since she was a small child. She couldn't quite remember. She remembered the vulnerability, the fear and often the panic. But now, now, she was just gentle. Marley smiled as she noticed the henna tattoo applied to her left shoulder…a blooming rosebud. Marley stretched to reach her mothers face. She felt her feet leave the ground slightly as she was lifted by the waist. Marley leaned over and kissed Rose on her pretty pink lips. "Mommy, I love you."

Ziva put Marley down on her feet and then knelt in front of this little girl and meet her gaze. They embraced for several moments when Marley whispered, "Baruch atah, yom yom ya' Amos lanu. (_Praised are you, who daily carries our burden)"_

Ziva was surprised and fought back tears. She gently took Marley's chin in her hand. "No more burden's for either of us. Panav Adonai yissa eleykla.( _May the Lord turn his face to you_)"

Marley stood back and looked at this team of people, who she had known for less than a week. Before her tears could escape, she took a deep breath. "Thank you Dr. Ducky. Thank you for taking such good care of my mom." Next she ran to Abby and threw herself at her. "Abby you did a great job on the make- up. She looks beautiful, she was beautiful. She'd love the tattoo too. She always wanted one but was scared of needles… She turned to McGee. Tim picked her up. "You're the smartest McGee, the Scooby Doo." She gave a quick kiss to his cheek.

"Hey, I like the Scooby reference. Wasn't he the hero? I think you're pretty much the hero here, Marley."

Tony took Marley from Tim. "Hey, stop filling her head with deep and meaningful television references." Tony leaned in close and whispered in Marley ear. Marley's eyes brightened and a small, but mischievous smile came to her mouth. "So what about me, I'm your favourite, right?" asked Tony

"Yeah, that's why she up chucked on you, bit you and nearly sent your gonads into orbit," quipped Tim.

"Na, that was all just a misunderstanding. Right?"

"Yeah, and I'm not sorry for anything, well except maybe for the Sam I am line."

"And you were pulling my chain about the Magnum episode, weren't you?"

"Hmm… I'll never tell. You may need to interrogate a distant relative."

The cryptic clue went over everybody's head, except, of course for Tony. He made a mental note to bring his box sets tonight and scan through them.

Gibbs laughed at Marley's simple and sincere expressions of appreciation. He was proud of his team. This case was solved and another would too soon take its place. They deserved some rest and relaxation.

Marley's voice pulled him out of his meditative revere.

"Gibbs?" She grabbed him around the waist and buried her head in his belly and sobbed.

**FREEZE FRAME: Mid shot Marley hugging Gibbs, her face buried. Gibbs hand rests on her head. Tony, Ziva, Abby, McGee and Ducky can be seen in the background, their forms slightly diffused. All are smiling. With one hand, Abby dabs a handkerchief at her eyes. She holds a single white rose in the other. Convert black and white. CUT**

**TBC**

**Chapter 11 - EppaRog**

**A.N . A very big thank you To Harliquinn who managed to write a new Mag 7 story, Yah, and once again, beta read mine for me. The final chapter will be updated with this one. Please review.**


	11. EppaRog

**FREEZE FRAME**

**Disclaimers: same as chapter 1**

**Warnings: Author Traffic Hazard. We drive on the left side of the road here. Thanks to Harliquinn, I didn't have any major accidents.**

**FREEZE FRAME **

**Chapter 11 –EppaRog**

**FREEZE FRAME: Cut. Middle shot. Tony, Marley and Abby with Gibbs behind one hand grasping Abby's arm, the other out of frame. Tony is rubbing the back of his head, Marley's hands are rubbing her behind and Abby is frozen in a slight jump with a wide eyed expression. Convert Black and white. CUT **

**CA Abby's lab.**

Tony, Abby and Marley are situated in front of the big screen. In front of Abby is a smaller screen and computer keyboard. Marley stands on the rungs of a stool between Tony and Abby as they watch the large screen in front. The screen is split. On one side is the visual from the basement parking lot surveillance cam the other displays the interior of McGee's car, where we see an empty driver's seat.

"I can't see, let me in."

"Here, kneel up on the stool." Tony picked Marley up and placed her between him and Abby on the stool in front of Abby's work bench.

"Okay folks." declared Abby. "Let the show begin."

"Abby, you're a genius. How did you ever pull this off?"

"Well, the voices were easy, the microphones and video bug plants, easy, but my piece de résistance are the links to the traffic cams that I have been able to feed back to us. We are going to see a real show here. I downloaded the voice styles then changed the voice recognition conversion codes, which was a bit time consuming considering the numerous possibilities …."

"No, don't explain, let's just watch, I just want to see McSmug turn into McBoggled."

"Well, we will get a full close up, though I've had to use a fish eye lens, to get a wide view. But at the end of the day we'll have internal eyes and external eyes."

"You are the master."

"Yep, now here Tony put this on." Abby handed Tony an earpiece with a microphone attached. He inserted it into his ear and positioned the microphone in front of his mouth. "Now I've programmed the GPS audio to give the instruction and directions in the downloaded voice, but it can't waiver from the locked in directions. So, I thought we could tap into your talents and you could improvise some added instructions."

"Can I have one of them?" asked Marley

"Sure, but only one of you can speak at a time." Abby attached a microphone to Marley. "Now, you two don't go overboard yet. It won't take him long to figure out we've done something. What he won't know though, is that we are watching, so don't give anything away too soon."

Marley pointed to the screen. "Hey, guys, here he comes."

McGee could be seen coming into view and walking towards his car. As he took the driver's seat, three heads cut away to the second screen where McGee's face, fatter than it normally is, leaned forward and turned on his GPS.

"_**Please type in your destination"**_

McGee typed in the address of the Four Seasons.

"_**So that is 995 George Washington Drive, Georgetown? Press GO to confirm."**_

"No, that's not right." McGee was confused. The text on the screen said Pennsylvania Ave, but the voice recognition didn't. He pressed **STOP,** then **BACK. **

Marley put her hand up. "Abby, let me, let me, I can do a real good computer grown up voice." Abby turned up Marley's amp, and with her best voice she said "_**So 995 George Washington Drive, is not your destination. Press GO to confirm."**_

McGee frowned and then pressed; **GO** to confirm "That's not my destination."

"_**It's not? Press Go to confirm**_." Abby had to drop Marley's volume as Tony nearly broke up with laughter at Marley's nonsensical response, in a very serious sterilized voice. Tim's frustration was starting to surface, and he punched the GO button rather viciously, three times.

"Okay, okay, just get the damn thing right, stupid…!"

Marley couldn't resist, **"**_**Please press BACK to apologize"**_

"What the? This voice recognition must be on some sort of loop."

"_**Insulting response detected. Please press BACK to apologize" **_

McGee did one better "It must be a glitch that happened when I last updated maps. I'll just hit back, go to settings, reset to default factory settings, then restart." McGee's ballooned features and determined expression, as well as, his mumbling self instructions was a humorous sight. Once again Abby had to turn down their microphones.

"On no," said Marley "he's resetting, Abbs."

"You think I didn't think of that. This is where I reset the next little surprise. When he goes to default it converts to my settings. Get ready, Tony, it's your turn."

McGee hit the restart button and the GPS wolfed out its request.

"_**Rot is Rour Restination**_?" Again McGee was confused by the pronunciation of the voice, but he'd already mucked around with this too much, he needed to get to the hotel before Gibbs and set up the surveillance links. So he punched in the address of the Four Seasons once again, then pressed **Go**

But this time nothing happened. Tony spoke through his microphone.

"_**Ress Rarder!"**_

"Press harder? What, it's dropping its first letter. This thing cost a fortune. What the hell." Tim punched **GO **very hard Twice. This time the map came up on the screen with the familiar red arrow traveling down the cartography.

"_**Oray, oray!" **_

"Oray? Is that hooray or okay? Thank god this thing is still under warranty."

"Not anymore." quipped Abby. The red arrow traveled ahead, and then indicated a left hand turn out of the parking lot and onto the main roadway.

"_**In 50 yards Rurn Reft."**_ McGee followed the instructions as best he could, keeping his eye on the graphics. At least those were accurate. So were the instructions, but with the high pitch of the voice and its obvious speech impediment, the verbal instructions were a little hard to understand.

The GPS continued to give the instructions. "_**Continue 500 yards and Renter roundabout. Rake Recond Rexit"**_

Meanwhile, the three conspirators watched the image of McGee's car exit the parking lot. Abby punched in more information on her keyboard and the large screen morphed into four smaller frames. The first three frames showed three different views of a large Roundabout with five Intersections. A small circular common adorned the roundabout's center. It was lined with a miniature hedge and a single line of blooming azaleas. A small stretch of lawn separated the hedge from a medium sized water feature that sprayed a fine mist of water from the vases of three small angelic figures.

"Okay, lets up the antics here. Let's have him go around and around in circles."

"Okay," said Abby "but you'll have to speak through the microphone, try not to over talk the GPS instructions. It will give the right directions; you will need to contradict them in the exact same voice, though, so far your interpretation is flawless, Tony".

"Wry, thank Rou Relma"

"No Roblem, Scooby"

Marley giggled next to them. "That will be funny, because if he changes the direction the GPS will re-calculate and give him another set, which will confuse him even more. Come on do it, do it."

Tony spoke into his microphone _**"In 10 yards Renter roundabout and Rake Rirst Rexit." **_

McGee looked at the map, confused he dared questioned the unit. Rirst exit? You mean second exit. The red arrow says the second exit."

"_**Rot ron't rou runderstand! Rake Rirst Rexit!"**_

The three found it hard to contain their laughter as they watched the traffic cams and McGee's Porsche trying to change lanes in the busy intersection. Marley scanning all three screens suddenly pointed to the second frame. There entering the same huge roundabout was a pink moped.

"Hey, look, isn't that Sister Mary Ellen?"

Abby and Tony looked up just in time to see McGee's car quickly switching lanes and startling the petite nun on her scooter, coming from his right.

"_**ROOK ROUT!"**_ Tony yelled into his microphone.

All three faces took a huge breath and looked from frame to frame. The bottom frame showed McGee's extreme close-up and panicked expression, while the other three frames showed the overhead views from different angles of Sister Mary Ellen swerving and just missing the back of McGee's car. It then hit the curb, jumping the small hedge and came to a swiveled stop inches from the common's water fountain. Abby so wished she had the ability to zoom in on Sister Mary Ellen's face, but this was a live link. Damn, I should be recording this! The quick alternative was to hit the capture button and at least acquire some stills.

"Hey, did you see what I just saw. I think Sister Mary Ellen just gave McGee the bird!" Exclaimed Marley

Yep, some priceless stills thought Abby.

Tony couldn't resist adding to the dialogue.

"_**ROT THE RELL YOU RORON!" **_

Suddenly the GPS re-programmed voice added. "_**Recalculating... Rwhere possible Ro a Ru Turn."**_

McGee was now beside himself. "Ru turn? What are you kidding I nearly killed a nun!"

Sister Mary Ellen, meanwhile was not impressed. She spotted the offending vehicle continue around the roundabout, and without hesitation she mounted her bike and cranked the accelerator. The result was quite effective. The moist lawn added a spray of dirt from its back wheel and very little traction. Mary Ellen cranked it again. The sudden power surge sent Sister Mary Ellen air born and over the hedge, landing on one wheel, she then dropped the scooter behind the cars in the nearest lane and took off in hot pursuit of McGee's Porsche.

Abby watched with horror, and Marley watched with an expression of awe and surprise, while Tony watched with utter delight and joy. Tony's rattling giggle was infectious and before they knew it, they were all laughing.

"Stop it. I've got to concentrate." said Abby.

"Oh, Abby, this is your finest hour." declared Tony

"Looks like Sister Mary Ellen got her high speed car chase after all" said Marley

Sister Mary Ellen weaved in and out the lanes trying to catch the mindless driver. What she intended to do once she caught up with the powerful sports car was anybody's guess. The probability of her little scooter actually catching up with the car was, well improbable. But hey, David and Goliath was one of her favorite parables. Besides she didn't really care. This was just so exciting.

McGee could be seen coming around the common again. He hadn't been able to exit, and was now concerned about the poor little nun he'd nearly wiped out. His big moon face had grown a frown and his mouth was contorted from biting the corner of his bottom lip. He swung his head from side to side like a carnival clown, a very disturbed carnival clown, looking for the moped and its rider.

The GPS sent out another set of instructions "_**Recalculating… in 20 yards Rake Recond Rexit"**_

They watched McGee panicked expression, " I'm not taking any rexit you blasted machine. I'm looking for a dead nun!" McGee leaned forward and turned off the voice on the GPS.

"Ohhhhhh….", Marley and Abby were disappointed. Tony on the other hand went in for the kill.

"_**The Read Nun Is Rehind You!"**_

McGee's eyes nearly exploded out of his head. He checked his review mirror, then looked back to see the nun on her pink scooter three cars back and making ground. All logic was lost for a brief moment and irrational fear clouded his common sense. For one second, he actually thought that he was being chased by a dead nun, like this was one of Tony's totally lame zombie movies and his GPS was actually possessed by some dog with a speech impediment…

"TONY!"

Nobody in the lab could miss the moment of realization that came to Tim's face. It was after all an extreme close-up in a frame no more than 2 feet from theirs.

"Roh Oh, we've been made." The fun seemed over for Tony, Abby and Marley as well as McGee's torture. But, Well, not quite. ..

Junior Officer Scott Peters sat astride his traffic bike, watching the busy five ways intersection. He had seen a Porsche sports change lanes quickly, nearly taking out a lovely little nun on a pretty pink scooter as she entered from the right. He set off his siren and pulled in behind the Porsche as it came around the large roundabout's common for the third time. He signaled the driver to pull over, indicating the upcoming exit and side street.

Sister Mary Ellen followed, hoping to offer assistance.

McGee was livid. "Shit, shit shit… Tony this is your doing, yours and Abby's , it's got your names all over it. You just wait. Your asses are mine and anyone else who was in on this."

"_**Ohh, Ra ScaRRing Re, McScooby"**_

That was it. That last statement set McGee off into frenzy. He exited five ways and pulled the car over, and started searching for the hidden microphone and anything else that Abby had obviously planted. The three culprits watched the screens. They could still McGee's car, though the angle was somewhat awkward. They watched as a young traffic officer pull up behind him, and dismount his bike. The close up showed McGee disconnect his GPS and turn off his radio, but he hadn't yet discovered the microphone and minute speakers, nor the web cam mounted on one of his dash dials.

"Sir, could you step out of the car please." The young officer kept his distance from this driver who appeared agitated. He wasn't quite sure if the occupant was on drugs, or what, but he wasn't taking any chances. The shaking and physical convulsions of the man were disconcerting. Sister Mary Ellen came to join Scott Peters. "Please stay back ma'am."

Sister Mary Ellen's bravado wavered and she could be seen blessing herself, probably wondering what she had got herself into.

Abby decided to throw in the other piece de resistance. She hit the Mpeg 3 icon on her computer screen.

" _**Scooby dooby doo where are you we've got some work to do now….."**_ the rest of the song could not be heard over Tim's 100 decibel growl. He frantically started pulling at any wires that looked like they didn't belong. He found the microphone and speaker wires and pulled. The song died. He then spotted the small disk mounted on his dash. The last image downloaded and captured was a detailed macro image of Tim's' flaring nostrils and rigid ginger nostril hair.

Abby was feeling a little guilty, and thought she probably shouldn't have included the song, but it was the finale, and she had gone to a lot of trouble to set this gag up, and why not, I' mean she's was in trouble any way. But Sister Mary Ellen could have been hurt. But then she wasn't, and how much worse could it get? Tony's undying praise and declaration soon wiped any pang of guilt she had.

"Oh, this couldn't have turned out any better, no one, I mean, no one, could have arranged a more entertaining scenario Abbs, you are pure genius."

Marley tried to get their attention . "Uh, Guys, Guys? He's got a gun!"

The panic in Marley's voice snapped them both to attention. "Shit, Tony, McGee's got his gun out!"

Tony looked up at the scene unfolding in the third frame before them. "No he hasn't. It's alright…. Look…the traffic cop has a Taser."

"But, McGee can't see him. Warn him, Tony."

"I can't there's no speaker, remember?"

The lab seemed to take a sudden and ominous silence. A presence could be felt. The long overhead shot from the traffic cam could be seen but not heard. The only sound in the lab was the tinniest crackle of electricity that accompanied the tiny hairs that were raised on three scrawny little necks. All three masterminds were forced by fear to stare straight ahead. Marley could see Gibbs's ghostly reflection on the computer screen in front of them. He stood behind them, right behind her, with what she could only describe as a frown and the Cheshire cat's evil grin. Marley looked sideways and noticed Tony's melting stoic expression as he, too, had spotted Gibbs's reflection.

"Ah, Tony?"

Tony returned her sideways glance and without actually moving his head or saying anything just closed his eyes. Marley took his cue and turned back and stared straight ahead. That's when their lives suddenly flashed before their eyes. "I've got your six" might mean I'll protect your back, but all three knew that their butts were now fair game.

Young Officer Scott Peters pressed the trigger of his Taser as McGee bent over the driver's seat yanking out the last of Abby's wires. The aluminous squiggly cord of the stun gun could be seen linking the young officer's hand to the upper thigh and gluteus maximous of McGee's left buttock.

Tony cringed. "Ouch! That's gotta hurt!"

"YA THINK!"

"One…SLAP."

"Yeah Boss."

"Two…SWAT."

"OW….Ah-ishhhhh"

"Three…SWAT,"

"OW"

"And, three again…SWAT."

"GIBBBBBBBBS…."

**FREEZE FRAME: Cut. Middle shot. Tony, Marley and Abby with Gibbs behind one hand grasping Abby's arm, the other out of frame. Tony is rubbing the back of his head, Marley's hands are rubbing her behind and Abby is frozen in a slight jump with a wide eyed expression. Convert Black and white. CUT **

THE END

A.N . I've decided to end this episode here. The story will continue in Freeze Frame episode 2 Room service, which will be a fun little interlude before the team take on another case. So if you like this story and want more you will need to author alert. Though I won't list as complete, yet, I might change my mind. A big shout out to Harliquinn who gave me the idea for the prank, I hope I did it justice. Disclaimer : No nuns were harmed in the filming of this episode.


End file.
